The Oseberg ship at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, NorwayBy the 3rd century there seems to have been a disruption of trade, possibly due to attacks from tribes in
periphery. In the 4th and 5th centuries, larger settlements were established in southern Scandinavia,
indicating a centralization of power. Numerous strongholds were also being built, indicating a need to
defend against attacks. Deposits of weapons in bogs from this period suggest the presence of a warrior
aristocracy.[43] The Gutes of Gotland are in later Old Norse literature considered indistinguishable from
the Goths, who in the 3rd and 4th centuries wrested control of the Pontic Steppe from the
Iranian nomads. The Goths were the only non-nomadic people to ever acquire a dominant position on
the Eurasian steppe, and their influence on the early Slavs must have been considerable.[63] When
the Huns invaded these territories, the North Germanic legends recall that the Gizur of the Geats came
to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict. Rich Eastern Roman finds made in Gotland and southern
Sweden from this period are a testimony to this connection.[43]
Archaeological evidence suggest that a warrior elite continued to dominate North Germanic society into
the Early Middle Ages.[43] The royal dynasty of the Swedes, the Yngling, was founded in the 5th century.
Based at Gamla Uppsala, the Ynglings would come to dominate much of Scandinavia.[43] The importance
of this dynasty for the North Germanic peoples is attested by the fact that the
later Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson begins his history of the Norse peoples, the Heimskringla, with
the legends of ancient Sweden.[5]
Early Middle Ages
Further information: Migration Period, Germanic Iron Age, and Vendel Period
Around 510, the Herules returned to their home in southern Sweden following centuries of migrations
throughout Europe, after their kingdom had been overwhelmed by the Lombards.[54] Their name has
been connected to the word erilaz attested in Elder Futhark inscriptions and the title Earl.
In his book Getica, the 6th century Gothic historian Jordanes presents a detailed description of the
various peoples inhabiting Scandinavia (Scandza), a land "not only inhospitable to men but cruel even to
wild beasts."[64] Jordanes wrote that the Scandinavians were distinguished from other Germanic peoples
by being of larger physical stature and more warlike. The most numerous of these tribes were the
Swedes and the Danes, who were an offshoot of the Swedes. Another North Germanic tribe were
the Ranii, whose king Rodulf left Scandinavia for Ostrogothic Italy and became a companion
of Theoderic the Great.[64]
Each of these countries was like a mighty hive, which, by the vigour of propagation and health of
climate, growing too full of people, threw out some new swarm at certain periods of time, that took
wing, and sought out some new abode, expelling or subduing the old inhabitants, and seating
themselves in their rooms.[65]