WIXLIB

The Game of Thrones in theearly Kingdoms of DenmarkBy Ph.D. Mads RavnHead of research, Vejle Museums6/24/20191

First sceneDenmarkSecond SceneEuropeWhy 9thcentury?6/24/2019 the ‘game of thrones’ of kingdoms in Denmark inthe 6th-10th century from archaeology contextualizing these events with events in theFrankish empire Mainly from written sources discussing why the Vikings attacked at this time nature of violence, the raids and their impact.2

First sceneSouth Scandinavia in 9thcenturyViking warriorwith standardgear around AD800From Ravn & Juel in SKALK 20186/24/20193

What is a kingdom ? Not a state (17th Century) A kingdom. To ‘dømme’ (DK) ‘to judge’(ENG). Hence, a kingdom is not a territory, it ajurisdiction where the king’s word is lawand over whom a king rules one or morepeoples This need not include territory6/24/20194

Hypothesis 1: Danish kingdoms formed early –mainly from archaeological sources AD 520 Rex Danorummentioned byGregory of Tours studies of regionality6/24/2019 AD 700 From archaeologyand studies ofregionality and styles5

Second hypothesis:influenced by historians‘ even inthe eighth and ninthcenturies, and still morein the fifth and sixth,aristocratic economicdominance over peasantneighbours was notestablished in Denmark’(Wickham 2005, p. 375).6/24/2019From Näsman 20066

Early towns – Ribe AD 700 indication of strongerpolities6/24/2019After Jensen 19917

Christian graves in Ribe from the middle of the800 years from Ansgar ? (855)6/24/20198

Christianity at thethe Jelling Stone According to Wickham thekingdoms in South Scandinaviashould be called pre-statesystems (Wickham 2005, p. 56), peasant mode or rankedsocieties (2005, p. 304).National Museum by Roberto Fortuna6/24/20199

Towns in border areas ?6/24/2019From Ravn & Juel in SKALK 2018Reconstruction ofhow Hedeby mayhave looked10

Eastern and Western rural settlementsSocieté a maison ?6/24/2019 .the greatest ofhall-buildings.Hrothgar the king,who wielded powerwith words, namedthe hall Hereot. Hefulfilled his pledge,dealt out preciousrings, treasures atthe feast.11(Beowulf)

JärrestadTissøLejre6/24/201912

‘SouthViken6/24/2019of Skiringssal (kaupang) a large sea cutsinto the land and it is wider that any man canoversee. And on the other side is first Jutland,and then Sillende. This sea goes many hundredmiles into the land. from Skiringssal [onecan sail] in five days to the trade town,which is called Hedeby. It lies between theVends, the Saxons, and the Angles, and belongsto the Danes. When he sailed there fromSkiringssal, he had Denmark at the port sideand at the starboard side the open sea in threedays’. (Translated from Lund 1984, 24).13

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6/24/2019Iron Age Village: Vingsted historiske Værksted(Vejle Museerne)15

Harold, kingdemanded that thosekumbles [memorywords] be made afterGorm his farther andThyra his mother, thatHarald that won allDenmark and Norwayand made the DanesChristians.6/24/2019Photo: National Museum byRoberto Fortuna16

Denmark- aperiphery tothe Karolingiancentre? Goods Exchange Silver andgold(booty) Furs SlavesMap from Hjardar and Vike 20116/24/201917

Highlights in the 800 yearsLemm 20136/24/2019 AD 777, 782: Widukind seeks asylym atKing Sigurd/Sigfred’s court Charlemagne kills more than 4500Saxons and destroys their sacred sites 793 attack on Lindisfarne (revengeagainst Christians?) 808 king Godfred attacks the Slavs andconquers Reric, and founds Hedeby Esesfelth is built against the Danes 810 Godfred conquers Friesland andtaxes the people. 817 attack on Esesfelth (reconstructedby T. Lemm)18

Game of Thrones - Peer polity interaction Hawks against dovesHorik I does not havecontrol over the chiefsthat raidedHarold and Reginfredtook over power 812 –814Charlemagne dies in814Louis the Pious 814-840Godfred son ofHarald (exile)Røric/HrorickSigurd6/24/201919

814-815 Vestfold is mentioned some Frankish and Saxon magnates . [were sent]across the Elbe to the Norman frontier. They shouldmake peace with them after the wish of their kingsand hand over their brother. With them, a similarnumber of magnates of the Danes, that is 16, at theplace agreed, and after mutual oaths weredelivered, the peace was confirmed and thebrother of the kings was handed back. They[Harald and Reginfred], were however not homeat the time, as they went to Westarfolda, thefarthest region towards the north west, fromwhere one can look towards the northern tip ofBritain, and whose chiefs did not obey them (mytranslation).6/24/201920

Campaign 815 After 7 days of travel they reached aplace where Godfred’s sons were hiding ‘large fleet of 200 ships’ that were ‘ inan island about three miles from themain land’ ‘our troops, after having plundered thearea and claimed 40 hostages wentback to the emperor in Saxony’.6/24/201921

The strategic placement of the fortified Erritsø siteDid Louis’s troops stop here ?Did Godfred’s sons hide here?Viewshed analysis with the Erritsø6/24/2019hallin the centre22

Erritsø site6/24/201923

War of succession when Louis dies in 840CharlemagneLouis PiousCharles theBald6/24/201924

The division of the Frankish empire afterLouis6/24/2019Île Batailleusea Viking camp King Horik I denounced that he was behindthe Viking attacks. And he may be right. Hecould not control his war lords. Horik was not interested in war The division made it possible ‘to play’ theleaders up against each other25

Harald Klak (dies 842) Reinstated with Horik I from 819824-26 824 Harald Christened 824- Horik I rules alone Harald lives in Rüstingen Harald is behind a number ofsmear campaigns against Horikblaming him for the raids, thoughhe may himself have arrangedsome A rich royal and Frankish-inspiredgrave is present in Hedeby. It couldbe his grave6/24/201926

Further Viking Attacks after Louis 834 the Vikings again attack theWest coast of Friesland Aim: Dorestad Vikings reappear in 836 and 837. Dorestad a ‘cash cow’ for theVikings 837 attack on Walcheren inZealand6/24/201927

Raids in the Frankish empire 845 Horik succumbs to internalpressure and arranges a Vikingraid. Leader of the Campaing: RagnerLodbrog In March he sails up the Seineand sacks Paris6/24/201928

Types of Viking ships found in ScandinaviaRagner Lodbrog in‘Vikings’)the country was rich and .the inhabitants wereweaklings (report fromRagner Lodbrog to Horik)6/24/201929

Attack on Paris November6/24/2019th24885Treasure from Hoenin Norway30

Christian graves in Ribe from the middle of the 800years from Ansgar ?6/24/201931

From 8646/24/2019The MammenWarrior AD 97032

The northern way Norway from AD 864 Horik II killed Norwayestablished in the West 870-872: Battle of Hafrsfjord The Viken area was overtaken byHarald Fairhair Iceland is probably founded as aresult of this battle around 870 Denmark goes down Norway goes up6/24/201933

The Jelling Dynasty (916-1035)Harold, kingdemanded that thosekumbles [memorywords] be made afterGorm his farther andThyra his mother, thatHarald that won allDenmark and Norwayand made the DanesChristians.Photo: National Museum by6/24/2019Roberto Fortuna34

Basic unit a‘Roman foot’Harald’s Denmark240 m120 mClosest parallel: OostSouburg, Walcheren.AD 980Borgring6/24/201935

Harald’s JellingArchaeologicalinvestigations inJelling from 20092013Den nordøstligekvadrant6/24/201936

Place of houses within the North-EasternquarterPlaceringen af huse indenfor denNordøstlige kvadrant6/24/201937

Jelling6/24/201938

Trelleborg house typeFyrkatAggersborgJelling6/24/201939

Reconstructed, seen from the west6/24/201940

The mounds seen from the north east6/24/201941

The ChurchChamberGrave underthe church6/24/201942

Jelling Church Excavations Dyggve,1948,1951, Knud Krogh 1965, 1976-19796/24/2019Jelling Kirke – Dyggve 1948, 1948, 1951, Knud J. Krogh 1965, 1976-197943

Possible Hall building under the church6/24/201944

Jelling fortress6/24/201945

Excavations in the SmededammenDate of felling: 958 - 985 –Most likely AD 968.6/24/201946

Overview of Jelling360,4 x 360,4 metres6/24/201947

Three phases in JellingSeenfrom theSW6/24/2019900 – 960960 - 9901000 – 1100-tallet48

Graphics: Vejle Museums110 x 110 metres6/24/201949

Pointed moat and palisade, fencing in the area of110x110 mPhotos and graphics: VejleMuseums6/24/201950

Palisade on the inside of the moatPhotos and graphics: ks ofposts for each5m51

New investigations in Erritsø 2015-2016C-14 datesfrom charcoalfrom the hallThe hall has been standing in the 700800 years!6/24/2019Dendro date from the well (Daly2017).52

Interpreting the moat- Dry moat- Pollen analyses- Samples for dating6/24/201953

Place-names in Elbo ShireView-shed from Moesgaard and Aarhus University IT6/24/201954Gudsø vig024

Older finds from the area indicating powerErritsø treasureSilverarmring from‘Kongebroskoven’6/24/201955

Houses from the 8th century6/24/201956

Detector finds:Fragment of Bowl broach, bronzeLead weightPiece ofcutDirhem, ofsilver fromthe 8thcentury6/24/201957Fragment of bowl broch of silver

The landscape of power ?6/24/201958

Conclusions: both peer polity and centreperiphery The Danish appeared already in the 6th century (Gregory of Tours) Present Denmark assembled maybe not before the 9th century or 10thcentury It was a long process of internally fighting kings starting in the Iron Age thatmade the Viking Age Denmark - Peer polity Proto-towns were founded in the 8th century There were different level of settlement structures and complexity inJutland and Eastern Denmark The Danish Kings were drawn into the conflicts with Charlemagne and hissuccessors, and started raiding in the 9th century. (Centre-Periphery)6/24/201959

Conclusions The Vikings raided because: ‘The country was richand .the inhabitants were weaklings’ (RagnerLodbrog) The Erritsø site may have been a target in the campaignmade by Louis the Pious and Harald in 815 The power shifted in the middle of the ninth century andthe Danish rule over Viken (in Oslo Fjord) stopped untilGorm and Harald in the middle of the 10th century With Jelling they took power and ‘all Denmark andNorway’ was won. More bottlenecks were appearing for the elite6/24/2019Photo: National Museum byRoberto Fortuna60

Conclusions Power concentrated becausemore bottlenecks wereappearing: Bottlenecks: ‘constrictionpoints in commodity chainsthat offer an aspiring leaderthe opportunity to limit access,thus creating ownership overresources, technologies orknowledge’ (Earle and Spriggs2015, p. 517).6/24/201961

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the game of thrones of kingdoms in Denmark in the 6th-10th century from archaeology Second Scene Europe contextualizing these events with events in the Frankish empire Mainly from written sources Why 9th century? discussing why the Vikings attacked at t