2.5.3 Where did the Vikings go?
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
2.5.3 Where did the Vikings go?
There came to develop clearcut borders between the zones of interest
for Norwegian, Danish and Svea Vikings. Below the main routes for the
Viking trades are given with the modern names in some cases
supplemented with the old Norse names.
The Danes dominated
* England between York and London (Danelagen),
* Normandie,
* Holland
* and the southern coast of the Baltic sea between Jutland and
Gdansk with Stettin/Szczecin (Jomsborg) as the main port to the
continent.
* trade contacts with the Mediterian area - both indirect over the
continent and direct through the Gibraltar.
The Norwegians travelled to
* Iceland,
* the Faroe Islands,
* Ireland,
* Scotland
* and Wales.
* Like also the Danes they kept trade contacts with the cities of
the Mediterian Sea.
The Svear went to what today is Russia (Gårdarike):
* via the seas Ladoga and Onega to the river Volga and all the way
over the Caspic Sea to the flourishing Islam Persia.
* via Riga and the river Dvina/Düna to Smolensk.
* via Petersburg and the rivers Neva and Volkhov to Novgorod
(Holmgård).
* from Novgorod and Smolensk they followed the river Volga to Kiev
(Könugård) and further over the Black Sea to Istanbul (Micklagård)
in the Byzantian Empire where the first written source reports
Varangians in the Emperor's guard year 837.
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