Austrveg: The Viking Silk Road
Join our Discord: / discord
Support me on Patreon: / balticempire
In the mid-20th century, archaeologists discovered a figure of the Buddha in the site at Helgö, an old viking village. Dating back to the 6th century, the Buddha was made in the Swat Valley in modern day Pakistan, and is believed to have been brought to Scandinavia along an ancient trade route, called, "Austrveg".
Image sources:
Av Holger.Ellgaard - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Av Berig - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Av Berig - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Viksbåten - by Gunnel Illonen/Sjöhistoriska museet: digitaltmuseum.se/02101597632...
Av I, Efarestv, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
The finished replica Lee's Island Log boat. Photo Credit: Brian MacDomhnaill
bau.nu/Historisk%20illustrati...
By Zefram - Self-photographed, CC BY 2.0 de, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Sources:
Ship and society - Gunilla Larsson
The Viking World - Stefan Brink
Islam and Scandinavia during the Viking Age - Egil Mikkelsen
old.stockholmslansmuseum.se/up...
www.erikskulle.se/vikboat.php
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:46 The Varjags
6:30 The boats they used
11:59 The route
16:00 Trade with the Caliphate
19:32 Aggression
13:17 Outro
#vikings #history #vikingage
Lmao, I love the Morrowind background music. Think I'm going to make a Nord merchant/berserker that'll be a fun build
Oblivion is easily one of my top 10 games of all time, skyrim was a major letdown. I've been tempted for sometime to get a xbox copy of morrowind, I've never heard anything but good things about it
@@bidenhasdementia8657 well I personally love all three games and Morrowind was the one that started my journey. The only really good way to play it these days though, is on a PC using OpenMW. It's amazingly smooth and I played for dozens of hours with zero crashes, which is a rare thing for a TES game.
Ooooh you’re so right
@@bidenhasdementia8657 Better though to learn history and scientific subjects than just playing games. Some gameplay now and then is of course OK, but such things mislead people too much away from more important things in life.
@@bidenhasdementia8657 There was quite the jump from Morrowind to Oblivion, so it might be a bit of a culture shock. I remember being disappointed by Oblivion because the world seemed so empty, but the trade off is the voice acting, where there is very little in Morrowind. But(!) there are mods in development that might voice all of Morrowind in the near future.
Something I noticed that this rather condensed video glossed over was why Sweden had even more water travel back in that time, it's because the Scandinavian peninsula is rising due to having been released from the weight of the ice from the Ice Age. It's still rising today and ruins of old forts that used to be located at a beach are now found pretty high up on hills.
Väldigt bra sammanfattat. Gillar de tydliga kartorna och lågmälda musiken.
bilderna var alla fantastiska konstverk också
This is unbelievably great on every level. My goodness KZhead content is becoming a hell of an art form.
Great content like this has been coming out for years on KZhead, I don't even watch regular TV at all anymore
There's only one problem? It's all BS....
The Buddha statuette from Helgö is a famous object of Viking age archaeology in Sweden, and one of the most striking instances of how far the trade networks of the Dark Ages were actually spun.
@@louise_rose there's only one problem; there's no evidence that the Vikings got it themselves from India? If you read the references ( research data )its all just a hypothesis by a man called beachcombing. The Buddha statue was more likely initially traded by the Russians in the black sea region and made it's way up into Sweden. Amber was the currency of the Slavs which became the main form of currency at that time which to this day is highly valued and used in slavic jewelry.
@@mik823 Well, not from India, rather it's from Central Asia and this has been known for half a century
I already knew there were Vikings sailing on the Volga river during the Viking age, but its completely shocking that people made that journey in the Neolithic era.
Religious Journey i would think, crazy to think about
Why not?
Nothing shocking about that unless you are stuck in the christian /moslim worldviews based only on a very young world.
@@KibyNykraft I'm not religious, that's also kinda rude.
@@goldentoaster9302 People forget that many civilizations like Greeks/Hebrews/Egyptians had massive castles and fortresses while Europe was still living in mud huts.
Pretty funny that I get called both a Slavic revisionist and an anti-slavic German supremacist.
I have checked out your sources but unfortunately there is nothing in these books that confirm your historical claims about the the Slavs or Vikings There's dozens of these videos getting around on KZhead that propagate this false narrative.
You are not a revisionist, you are just a flatout liar.
please tell me what historical claims about the Slavs or Vikings these are
@@balticempire7244 the Kievan Rus.
The Viking Age was the period when the Scandinavians made themselves known, or rather notorious. From around 800 to around 1050 Scandinavians stirred up northern Europe in a way they had never done before or since. Norwegians in particular controlled and colonised the whole of the North Atlantic, from Norway, to the Faroes, Iceland, Shetland, the Scottish islands, parts of Ireland, Greenland and all the way to the eastern brim of North America. Especially Danes, but also Norwegians and Swedes, ravaged and had an impact on the political and social development of England and parts of France. Swedes travelled eastward, traded along the Russian rivers, and down to the Byzantine and Islamic world. They established in Kiev, under the name of Rus’, a new policy, the embryo of Russia. /Page 4 in The Viking World by Stefan Brink, one of my listed sources. You can find this text online. You can search Rus in this book to find statements which I based the video script on. In this book you also find the potential meanings behind Rus, Varjag, and the origins of the Viking traders.
I'm certainly looking forward to further adventures in Miklagard!
Yes please do, so much history that needs be highlighted more from this period of majestic sea lovers
The "j" in Slavic languages is most commonly transcribed into English as "y", as the sound is closer. So no "staraja", but "staraya", and (arguably) not "Varjags" but "Varyags" or even "Variaghs" - and in Old Church Slavonic "varyazhe"/"varyagi" - which is, probably not accidentally, much closer to the Greek "Βάραγγοι" -"Varangoi" (it is even possible, that digamma was sometimes read as double g by non-native speakers, but it is very hard to pronounce it with Greek phonetics) and possible Scandinavian etymology. In modern Russian it is "Varyaghi", in Ukrainian "Varyahy" and in Polish "Varegovie". But mostly: "staraya": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staraya_Ladoga
Yes. And: 1) The "ch" in 'Pechenegs' is really an English "ch" like in 'church', not a Slavic/German "ch" (English "kh"). 2) "Rus" has to be pronounced "Ruce" (Chaucer wrote it this way) like in "Bruce". But anyway, the film was very interesting, especially the parts about the different ways how the portage was actually done and that the Austrveg went directly from the Neva and Ladoga to the Volga and that it was so old. That was news to me.
@@jornstache2793 I fully agree, only concentrated on the most important wards for me :) Cheers!
@@jornstache2793 Since Ro and ru usually came from Rao/rau, it became logical that in russian they say a middlething of "ra" and "ro" in Rossiya/Rassiya (Russia) (that vowel does exist in american english like in how they say "rock")
In norwegian we say "væring" to a dweller of a small town along the coast, but only if farther north than Bergen city (roughly). The æ is a broad a. "Vær"= coastal village. A humorous rhyme from traditional songs is "Det dærre været i værre' fra Vårherre kan'kje bli verre enn det hærre". = "That weather (været) in the village (værre') from Our Lord can't get worse (verre) than this one here".
Vikings that sailed to Miklagard served as guards to the East Roman Emperors, called Væringr. Even the later norwegian king Harald Hardråde (hard ruler) Served in the Væring gard. Supposed origin...
Yes the Austerveg/Österled was probably a part of the silk road. During the early moslem conquests of Persia and the eastern mediterrane area the traditional ways of the silkroad was closed. In the 600 and 700 centuries Björkö, Birka, Hedeby and Gotland stood up as trading centers, while the Byzantine empire declined. From the northern trading centers thd proucts from the far east spread westward. One thesis of the declind of the northern trade routes and the vikings themselves was the first crusade who reopened the southern part of the silk road. Wich lead the northern tradesmen to become plunderers like their earlier western brethren. Tackar för denns intressanta video.
Don't see how it could be called crusade if the Vikings were mainly pagan and the Pope in Rome did not order it. Also the Khazars were mainly pagans and Jews while the Vikings were mainly pagan with some Christians.
"Which" = som, vilka. "Witch" = shamankvinna, trollkärring.
@@mrbaab5932What are you on about exactly?
@@mrbaab5932 The Crusade he referred to was the Christian Crusade which did indeed reopen the Southern trade routes to China. He didn't claim or imply that it was a Scandinavian crusade! The idea that the resulting economic depression from the loss of the trade routes resulted in the Scandinavians to go "Viking" is not something I have read about, but as a contributing factor, it makes sense! As does the better climatic conditions resulting in a population boom that encouraged restless young men to seek their fortune!
What an amazing video! I saw the Premiere and wanted such more to support it. I love Gold and Gunpowder, and this Baltic Empire channel is a real hidden gem. The Silk Road has always kind of taken away from the History of other trade routes - the amber, gold, hemp, tar and all kinds of things from the Baltic was absolutely an important part of medieval trade. I wish the Baltic States got more attention, they are fascinating little countries who punch very far above their weight. Thanks for the video!
What he said ^
If they taught it all together they would have to admit civilization was technically interconnected long before they teach in school
well said
My father who worked in the printing industry in Dublin coincidentally had a hard back book written in seems for pure academic from what i read many years ago still in family home dad 93 years of age the title being " The Viking Achievement " again very scholastic analysis cannot remember authors but seemed to be in depth work on this particular era.
Im really glad I found your channel, it's been a great resource to me. I'm American, but ethnically Swedish, and I have a deep desire to learn as much as I can about my ancestors, and your channel has taught me the most, so thanks you, and keep up the good work brother!
Hey great video. One small detail I want to mention. Roden would originally have been called Rothen, before sweden got rid of the th-sound. Th is similar to S. Hence Rosen, Roslagen, Ros. There is actually an old medieval song that mentions Rosen. You can find it here on youtube it is called Vänner och Fränder performed by Garmarna.
In German it is "rudern" = to row
TH from the elder futhark (norse runic alphabet) and a middlething between TH and D both exists in icelandic, but with separate letters not used in swedish or english. The two forms of it came to be in the newer futhark. AU was originally pronounced like a short ao, the sound still used in Malmö of Sweden and in Bryne of Norway (they say yaou for ya, which means yes, in Norway spelled "ja"). Later in some cases it became "øu"/öu", the ö + think about a narrow u like in pool in english said with an aristocratic Cockney accent, where the ø/ö = like in english bird or curve, as well as in german, turkish, hungarian, norwegian, finnish, icelandic where there are many words with the sound there usually spelled as ö or ø. In some cases it also turned into just ö and into just å (like in english aw or o in fork)
(æ on the other hand as a broad a, came from æou and æy, a sound widely used in old Greece for example.. The gothic/guta version of Eirik, later Eric/Eric/Aymeric, was Æymeriks).. In a few cases the æ became instead ö in sound, like in some icelandic dialects, like in french boeuf where o and e are handwritten as intervowen/as one letter almost resembling the æ symbol)
The beautiful very shallow draft vessel in the Norwegian Skepps museum. Clearly meant for shallow draft of rivers. Also good for portages. Not at all the same boats built for North Sea. A case of small shallow models and larger for war parties. Case of all of the above.
Love the music. I spent so many hours exploring to that soundtrack.
This channel needs to blow up!
I just subscribed.
They were also in Croatia - 13 swords have been found around Vrlika , as well as an inscription in Bribirska Glavica
This was a great video. Thank you!
Utterly fascinating. Subscribed, and looking forward to more!
This is very interesting.. the way you said "Vaeringi" (as the self-pronounced version of Varingians), is exactly the way that the word "Vergi" is pronounced in Latvian. "Vergi" literal meaning is "slaves" (singular: "vergs"). This could be a hint towards an old slave trade association that took place around that route.
Vergi means tax in Turkish. I wonder if these could be related.
Slavers maybe? Varjags meant slavers?
Varg means lawless in Old Norse.
@@jailedtwice735 During the Russian raids during the 18-century thousands of Swedes were enslaved when Sweden had officially banned slavery 13 century and never enslaved Russians during the early modern era. While the barbaric rule of the Tsar never abolished slavery until the 19 century.
@@jailedtwice735Baltic pirates enslaved Olof Tryggvason. So yes baltic peoples frequently enslaved Scandinavians. The raids on Sweden and Denmark was the official reason for the Nordic crusades.
Love your videos as always! 
I haven't seen much content on YT focusing on vikings eastern explorations, so this channel really fills a void. Subscribed!
When one studies a selection of local or national histories, it is like a jig saw manifesting itself as pieces join together. After 1500 years, it becomes clear how European society and culture became such a fascinating mix.
Excellent video, very informative. Subscribed.
This was very entertaining and interesting. Thanks!
I really appreciate and enjoy your presentations. I always learn new and valuable information. Very well researched with great illustrations used. Thank you!
Incredibly well explained! Lovely to have someone break it down into great detail with all relevant information along with no over the top editing. Please keep this concept when making future videos (maps, low profile music etc.) Looking forward to more. Greetings from a Swede in Malta!
Studied this in my third year at uni. Fascinating stuff. Love the Channel keep up the good work!
Wonderful work!
Great video, loads of information in a short time 🔥
Love the relaxing tone, delivery and charming accent!
What a beautiful presentation. Granted I'm only 6mins in and I've noticed your pinned comment so it might change, but as it stands now it's brilliant. The visuals matched with historical locations and time periods, condensed into perfectly digestible pieces of information and if anyone wants to dive deeper it's all there for them to do so too while still remaining simple. It reminds me of older KZhead before every channel dropped into their comfort zone and almost robotic format. Great job!
Just found the channel and this was a superb introduction to it!
Great channel! I'm happy that I have found it, I can tell that you have put in some great work on your interesting videos.
Excellent documentary. A lot of information i did not know about.
Extremely informative content. Keep it up. 👍
Nice video bro. Im so excited for the Miklagard video! Hope you bring up the Varangian Guard. If not please do another video about that :)
The light ships or boats they used are almost identical to kirkkovene or kyrkbåt that are used even today. Here in Finland we have yearly kyrkbåt race called "sulkavan soutu". Its a really big sports event!
This channel does not disappoint. It's amazing how far these people would go.
Very detailed, thanks
There is also another meaning for 'Austrveg'. In the poetic edda it is used as a kenning for going raiding (vikingr). "Þórr kom eigi, þvi at hann var í austrvegi". Thor didn't come because he was on the way east (ie: he was away raiding). Quote from Lokasenna.
I came across this by hasard. Looking forward to exploring this channel further.
Fantastic video!👍. 👋 from Norway
Very good sir. Keep it up!
Fantastic video!
Thanks for sharing, very interesting vid 👍
Impressive work!
Wow, what a fantastic history, so detailed .. It's the best out there.. Thank you mucho..
Impressive research and ability to present it so succinctly. Great work!
Fascinating . Thank you !
damn, too early - thought it's been already uploaded interesting thumbnail, showing the horribly long road to the Caspian Sea or in other words several months of traveling across mosquito habitats
it might have been too cold for moskitos. in caspian sea you would need lots of fresh water.. not easy to get
@@smonline631 I doubt it don't know about every part of Russia but I know that in the almost arctic region, which is bitter cold during the winter season, you'll literally breath mosquitos in the summer if you don't cover your mouth .......and there you often don't find large slow flowing river systems and extensive swamp areas bet on the Don or Volga the little vampires will try to suck you dry as soon as it gets warmer
Awesome video!
You have no idea how much your music choice improved this watching experience for me. You chose Soule's absolute best for this. His Solstheim tracks for Dragonborn hold a special place in my heart. It was so pleasant to learn something new with music that lovely playing in the background.
A lot of viewers notice the Morrowind tracks but I think youre the first to notice that its actually Solstheim, which includes old MW tracks. It invokes the right sense of adventure and mystery which I want in these videos
@@balticempire7244 i honestly wish he composed more original tracks for solstheim. his morrowind work is great too but he was absolutely at the top of his game when the dragonborn dlc came around. it's a really unique blend of the style of his skyrim tracks and the style of his morrowind tracks. just his absolute best compositions. shit's so beautiful it could bring a tear to my eye. it's great music choice on your part, i can imagine sailing the rivers of the east with that music playing in my head, experiencing all the sights and sounds and smells.
@madman6962 - can you gove a time stamp for this Solstheim track? I would be very pleased to hear that track. I never got to start on the Dragonborn expansion but do have it installed.
@@balticempire7244 - "Adventure and mystery" is exactly what I feel when listening to many of those Morrowind tracks. 7:40 was on eof my favorites. Playing the game I sometimes ventured to wander in open areas where the game would typically chose these tracks, just to listen to and enjoy them. They fit your video very well. (I was about to mention this in the top pinned post, but then read the toxic nationalism, you were attacked by. I believe you chose the right time to disengage. Thank you for interesting, informative videos. You have a new subscriber.
@@larsrons7937 The only one i bothered to note was the very first track in the video. I forget its name but it's the eighth exploration track in the dragonborn soundtrack and the first of the original exploration tracks we get from that OST. It's been a while since I've seen this video so I can't remember if my favorite is included in it, but "Morning Star", the ninth exploration track, is my absolute favorite out of the Dragonborn tracks. I without a hint of irony think it's Jeremy Soule's magnum opus.
What? I had no idea about most of it! Super interesting and well organized so it was easy to follow along. Yet my memory isn't what it used to be so I'll watch and listen again hehe. Grymt jobbat! Sådana historielärare skulle man haft. Då hade jag haft andra betyg!!! :D
fantastic video I'm not even half way through and I'm very impressed by the way you've explained viking age Sweden it's something that was always glossed over in other things I've seen
Russian Primary Chronicle explicitly states that the Rus tribe was neither Normans nor Swedes. It was another varangian tribe altogether.
My grandmothers family is Lithuanian/Polish/Swedish/Danish so I found this so interesting, thank you.
Excellent video.
Great video 😊
Right before the mention of "wheels" 11:25 I taught to my self: --What if the shields on the sides actually was wheels⁉️
You may have invented the tank
@@johndough1703 Sounds about right for me, I "invented" the accordion gun for a tabletop RPG, 250 years after Colt Sr did it IRL. 😅
we studied in history class that boats had detachable wheels indeed. (for the 'road from variags to greeks')
"The Oera Linda" is very pertinent to the subject. One very interesting passage in the book explains that a natural straight used to exist from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea. This would have opened the trade route up to all of Southern Asia. According to the text, it collapsed with the earthquake of 1600bc that accompanied the eruption of Thera. Once that straight was closed, trade colonies in the East were cut off from their Mediterranean route, which would have been a major catastrophe for a maritime trading culture.
Good video, you got yourself a new follower. Is that morrowind music i hear in rhe background?
your content is just too high quality to only watch it once I'm halfthrough now and already know that I have to watch it again while listening very closely and paying full attention to every single image always learning something from you that I didn't know before .......which is otherwise rarely the case with "history" content on this platform.....
That is the same experience I had. I watched the "Amber Road" some months ago. The present video is my second encounter with the channel, and Baltic Empire found a new subscriber in me. In my opinion this channel is high quality content and well worth the time.
trade between different populations in history was often much more common than conflicts and international trade has been playing a huge rule in the rise of various civilisations since the bronze age
In my opinion it's one of the biggest underestimations by historians and anthropologists, especially when it comes to sailing. Now they're finding evidence of sailing in the Mediterranean almost one hundred thousand years ago, according to current dating techniques, which I don't necessarily trust. But it's obvious that sailing is a very ancient art.
@@chrisnewbury3793 Some think that the Neanderthals may have used water craft to reach some islands. There brain cases were often bigger than those many modern humans, especially if we go by their shorter heights.
@@chrisnewbury3793 It is now accepted the americas must have been population by people sailing the western coasts of the americas.
@@loquat44-40 yes I've read that. Though they still refuse to acknowledge it happened all over The Atlantic Coast as well...until Colombus sailed the ocean blue :/
If goods don't cross borders, soldiers will. It is probably easier to get funding if you research war instead of trade.
Reminds of the Canadian ‘voyageurs’ who shouldered their light boats in land bridges between waterways in recent history. Brilliant video - very good to see the symbols for the various groups - and finally learn how the Russians began as Norse but became Slavicised.
those boats weren't so light. there's one of the largest in the Ottawa Natural History Museum!!
Very well written and presented videos ! 👍🏻
Otroligt intressant ! 🏆
Arguments highly unusual to hear on Southern Europe. Thanks for Sharing
When you were discussing portage either in summer or in winter it made me think about Christmas. Like how Santa clause has a lot of Scandinavian tropes. Like sleds and little expensive gifts acquired in the winter that could have been acquired from annual travels. Maybe they even wore red clothes for safer travel in the snow.
I am shocked to see that the Vikings traded with the Middle East region crossing the big rivers of Euro-Asia. Your video content added value to the History of the Nordic-Middle East Trade routes. Great work! Greetings from Europe BE
Using Morrowind music in video about nordic people. Ballsy! I approve!
From what I can tell, this has good scientific level.
Dude what the heck man how have I never seen this channel! I’ve been watching Gunpoweder for years!!!
You only mentioned it in passing, but was the organisation structure the Kievan Rus evolved from really a Khaganate? I think this is the first time I'm hearing it be referred to as such, so it would be great to hear more about that
Thanks for this great informative video, I'd like to add something 22:50 Actually, Atil was probably destroyed not by Rus's, but Oghuzs, Svyatsolav instead attacked Sarkel, Rus's and Oguzes acted in coordination, probably because they were allies.
tacksåmycket. really good renditione of a history
I'm guessing "Austrveg" means "eastern-way" or "österväg" Edit: I wrote this before watching the video >.>
Great video! The reason why I am so interested in maritime history, explorers, pirates, vikings etc, is the way these stories show how different groups of humans interact in strange circumstances in new strange environments and how cultures meet, sometimes clash and at times also cooperate. Anyway, Cheers!
Very interesting, good video.
I am an operator of a spring pole lathe. The question among my group has been, who invented this device. A further question is, how did it come to Western Europe. My theory involves the acquiring of technology as well as trade goods in the East. One of the difficulties I have had is that the Vikings must have originally brought it back except that to go viking was not about trade and technology but rather about acquiring goods/wealth. This video has given a clear picture of how the Varjags could have brought back the reciprocating lathe technology and adapted it to making bowls rather than kabob handles. This same adaptation would have been familiar in the British Isles. When the English went to Jerusalem in the first Crusade, they likely saw the origins of the Varjag lathe, a small bow lathe, in the market places on the way. Or, traders had seen the making of small turned spindles. To the English, it could have been a moment when they realized that the way to make bowls could be adapted to making chair legs. Thank you for broadening my perspective.
It is not necessary to move/drag boats over land between unconnected waterways. The solution is simple and straightforward. Establishing trading posts/ports with their own vessels on both sides of a land gap would necessitate transport of goods/equipment only, very likely on horses or oaxes' backs. Sweds are smart people ... even today 😉. Challenges they have had faced in the ancient brutal past could made them even smarter... so indeed, they ... doted the route with such trading/military settlements. Very good, informative presentation!
Yes , I share your opinion . It certainly seems a more sensible way of doing the job . And if archaeologists could find the remains of the sort of trading post you mention this would add considerable weight to the argument .
That was excellent.
The boat-like silhouette of of a drawn vagina was not only noted in Sweden, in Finnish the crudely drawn picture of a vagina is colloquially known as "kirkkovene" (long boat that was used for trips to church).
Tak-sa-Mooka fra midt Jylland!!!! 😉 Wonderful presentation!
mycka
I've been watching a lot of your videos and from the start I was thinking, "wow he sounds like that other guy". But I just thought that you are both Swedish so thats why. Then I noticed you made jokes from the same memes. Finally now it has dawned on me that both of you being Swedish wouldnt explain this level of vocal similarity. Hopefully KZhead is kinder to you on this channel, my glorious true friend.
Thanks!
I was gonna say "why is your sweden better than your english" out of joke since the way you pronounced austrveg sounded probably very swedish but the buddha sounded kinda off, lol Then i went to your channel description and it said "sweden" and i'm like "oh"
Best history channel
Good narated history during one of the most fascinating but least explored time period with Morrowind music. The perfect cocktail
Very interesting and much appreciated talk and video! Thank you from a Viking descendant living in Melbourne Australia!
Very good exposition. Loved living in Stockholm in Lidingor. Swedes good people.
The Volga-route was probably established by the Rus in late 700 AD, but for a long time the Rus did not trade directly with Bagdad, Volgabulgars and Khazars handled that. The first mentioning of Rus in Bagdad is from around 870 AD. According to my readings, the Rus Khaganate existed only between 820 - 860 AD, it was destroyed by Finish and Slavic tribes. After that the Rurikids established a new realm, Gardarike, and resumed the trade on the Volga and Dnepr. The oath ('vár') sworn by the Varjags was to the Byzantine emperor. They were not employed there before around 850, so calling Rus in the period before 850 for Varjags is not correct.
The idea is hard to comprehend and written are barely nonexistent. The only source that describes early Russia is Saint Barnes which mentions the Frankish emperor asking what type of nationality the rhos are and the said Swedes. Then the Norse sagas mention that Erik Anundsson conquered vast swaths of territory in the east and that the Swedes in 1015 considered the East their tributary countries. Or that Finns and Slavs should pay tribute to the Swedes.
@@jailedtwice735 The first Western European source to mention the Rus' are the Annals of St. Bertin (Annales Bertiniani).[82] These relate that Emperor Louis the Pious' court at Ingelheim, in 839, was visited by a delegation from the Byzantine emperor. In this delegation there were men who called themselves Rhos (in the Latin text, ... qui se, id est gentem suam, Rhos vocari dicebant, ...; translated by Aleksandr Nazarenko as ... who stated that they, i.e. their nation, were called Rhos, ...). Once Louis enquired the reason of their arrival (in the Latin text, ... Quorum adventus causam imperator diligentius investigans, ...), he learnt that they were Swedes (eos gentis esse Sueonum; verbatim, their nation is Sveoni) This is not some pretending they clearly claimed they belonged to the Swedish nation. Another source comes from Liutprand of Cremona, a 10th-century Lombard bishop whose Antapodosis, a report from Constantinople to Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, says that Constantinople 'stands in territory surrounded by warlike peoples. On the north it has the ... Rusii sometimes called by another name Nordmanni, and the Bulgarii who live too close for harmony'.[91][92][93] The Frankish sources clearly identifies the Rus as a Scandinavian people.
@@ew-uy6cs And its still pretty accurate (referring to the last paragraph). If you look on the map of northen part of Russia, there's a city called Murmansk (or Nordmansk).
@@m.l.6685 The danish-norwegian claim of land in the late medievals was stretching eastwards to the Murmansk bay. At this time most of the dwellers of the Kola peninsula and north Karelia were säämi and finns. Before the early Renaissance epoch, there were no formal borders in north Europe worth mentioning. A lot of hunter-gatherers and small-scale farmers and fishing villages across large parts of north Europe were occasionally taxed multiple times every year by chieftains, kings, and the Birkarl groups.
@@ew-uy6cs But there was probably no ethnic group called the Rus. If true that Rus is a simplification of roth, which in turn naturally will be a simplication of rauthi, rautha, raouth or similar, it may have become used as a way to describe a profession or a lifestyle of rowing and building (so a typical riverboat culture). Once the south europeans encountered them they might have heard Rus/rautha or similar as one of the names used by northern and north-eastern cultures, and used that on them.
How do you think Austrveg would ft in a video game format? I imagine it as a retro style game akin to Dwarf Fortress, Caves of Qud and the like. Other options like an adventure game or Open World one is also a good idea.
viking maritime affairs are kinda underexplored in vidya, and mostly its focused on britain and saxons which is zzz, I wanna see more vikings vs nomads and muslims, more exotic
Thanks for the amazing video! Can you please make a video about the Varangian Guard 😃
Those boats without keels look a bit instable to me, because you need a significant part of the ship beneath the waterline in order to keep a good balance.. They worked like surf boards or something like this? By the way, great video! Many thanks for this.
Scandinavian and finnish riverboats have a somewhat different shape ("sharper" keel, we call it kjøl) than the ones for quiet lakes, fjords and bays, and generally the downside of a flatter model is that it has slower speed than one that "cuts" more through the water like the river boats. What is more balanced depends on the streams and the width of the water passage though. The viking ships were roughly a compromise between the sea boat and the river stream boat. It was faster that way and balanced enough. I guess the development took place across a long range of generations of trying and failing and experiences.
@@KibyNykraft their ships look good. I was reading about the Cog ship from the Hanseatic League some while ago too. It also had sort of a flat keel and it seems they even took sea with these boats. They had some beautiful lines as well. Wikipedia says it was somewhat difficult to steer the thing as they couldn't add more than one mast to it because the hull was made with a different technique. Its curves are not clean, it is somewhat dented between the wooden slates.
Good video, just one correction the region u called Azerbaijan, was actually called Arran or sometimes Shirvan. Real Azerbaijan is further south. Russians/Soviets renamed Arran to Azerbaijan to create a casus belli to gain control of more regions.
Maybe unrelated (or distantly related), but in the northeast of Norway there is a wilderness location name called Arran. There is also a surname ,"Arras" in the same area. This area received much migration from east, southwest and south in Europe, Russia and the nordic region.
In Hungarian Vég mean end/ending, for exemple it's used in context of geography like keleti vég (Easter end or most eastern point)
Nice little dive into this important route of commerce. I mostly only here about Vikings jsut going down to Constantinople and not what ever else they’re doing
The boats used by the Varjags remind me strongly of the boats used in the northern US and southern Canada by the fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company. Similar use; similar technology.
And there is a map of Swedish Viking age settlements. Officially the presence nearly universal of iron working. For local use. Obviously wrong? Think export trade of iron utensils that could be easily sledged in winter to Lake Malaren to be sold in the springtime to traders to carry down the river roads. Malaren is ice bound in the winter. I remember happily x c sling on it.
Liked and subbed