|
Viking Trade:
To the ends of the earth
Click on the images below to view enlargements
Wherever Viking sites have been excavated, archaeologists are tantalized by the evidence
of far-ranging trade connections. Cowrie shells from the Persian Gulf have been discovered
in England. And silks cut from the same bale of cloth have been found at locations
many miles apart.
Their skill as boatbuilders and navigators gave the Vikings a leg-up as traders.
The shallow-draught boats they built were equally at home on open water and inland
waterways, enabling overseas journeys to be extended far inland. Places unaccustomed
to regular visits from traders - and willing to pay a premium - became regular stop-offs
for Vikings abroad.
Viking traders exported the raw materials of the North - amber and iron, skins and
furs, walrus ivory and soapstone. Timber for houses was sold to settlers in Iceland.
And the trade in slaves flourished everywhere.
Manufactured goods purchased in Europe were resold for a tidy profit back home in
Scandinavia. Glass and pottery came in from Germany. Wine from France and Spain.
Woolens and tin from the British Isles. Another important import was silver - lots
and lots of silver. Thousands of Arabic coins have been found in Viking excavations.
The coins were valued not as currency, but for the silver they contained. Viking
traders "made change" by cutting silver coins into smaller bits, called
"hack silver."
Geography determined "spheres of influence" among the countries of Scandinavia.
Vikings from Denmark worked the coastlines of France and Spain, or followed the Rhine
and Seine rivers into the heartland of Europe. Norwegian Vikings focused their activities
on the British Isles and the North Atlantic. Swedish Vikings turned east, toward
Russia.
Sailing to Byzantium (and points east)
A short jaunt over the Baltic took Swedish traders east to the rivers of Russia.
Vikings who settled at Novgorod on the Volchov River became founders of the first
Russian state. (Locals called these foreigners the Rus, meaning "oarsmen."
Hence, Russia.)
Other Vikings followed the Dnepr River south to the Black Sea and Byzantium (now
Istanbul). Back then, the Byzantine Empire was in its heyday. At a time when few
European cities could sustain populations of 50,000, Byzantium had more than a million
inhabitants! For fierce fighters like the Vikings, hiring out to the Byzantine army
was a natural career path. In fact, an all-Viking force called the Varangian Guard
was chosen by the emperor as his personal protectors.
The Volga River led further east to the Caspian Sea. This was the route followed
by traders headed for Baghdad and other centers of the Arab silver trade. Bulgar,
a town along the way, was a stop on the famous Silk Road. Here, Vikings came into
contact with the stream of trade goods flowing from China and the Far East. A tiny
bronze Buddha, made in India sometime in the 6th or 7th century, was unearthed on
an island in Sweden. Silks from China have also turned up.
Because many Christians and Muslims refused to swap their goods with pagans, Viking
traders often made "conversions of convenience" to the religion of their
trading partners. (Although Ibn Fadlan, an Arab diplomat, observed of the Vikings
he met, "They are very fond of pork and many of them who have assumed the garb
of Muslimism miss it very much." But business is business.)
The Viking legacy
While their most profound impact was on the history of Russia, the Vikings left their
mark on many other places, too. Cities that remain important today, such as Dublin
in Ireland and Kiev in Ukraine, started out as Viking trading posts. The city of
York, England, also dates its origin to Viking times.
In France, a Viking named Rollo was given a grant of land in exchange for keeping
other Vikings out of France. Soon, Rollo and his followers had succumbed to the fashion
for French language and French manners. In 1066, one of Rollo's descendants made
a big splash by crossing the English Channel. His name was William the Conqueror.
Top of Page
|
