The Tenth Century

Vikings in Russia

The Danes and the Norwegians went west and south. The Swedes went east and south. Active merchants, they were already in Livonia, trading at Lake Ladoga and Onega. From there they spread to the upper waters of the Dnieper and Volga rivers. These rivers led south, into Byzantine territories, and offered much wealth. Swedish raids penetrated further and further into the Russian heartland, striking terror into the locals.

At Kiev, the Swedes began to settle and built a good-sized kingdom that acted as an entrepôt between the riches of the Black Sea and the northern outpost of Novgorod. They appear in the chronicles as the Varangians, famous for their fighting ability. In fact, by the 11th century, the Byzantine emperors themselves had acquired some Swedes to serve in the palace at Constantinople: the Varangian Guard.

The Swedes also turned much of the Baltic Sea into a Swedish lake in the 10th century. They conquered Denmark for a time, but couldn't hold it. They had outposts along the southern Baltic shores, and had a strong presence in Latvia.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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