DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

18

East into Russia

TȰȤȳȰȴȴȪȯȵȰȳȶȴȴȪȢ, Viking warriors and traders

sailed up various rivers such as the Dvina, Lovat, and

Vistula in Poland. Then they had to drag their boats

across land before they reached the headwaters of the

Dniepr, Dniester, and Volga rivers and followed them

south to the Black and Caspian seas. From there, the

great cities of Constantinople (heart of the Byzantine

empire) and Baghdad (capital of the Islamic Caliphate)

were within reach. The history of Viking raids in the

east is not as well recorded as in western Europe.

In about 860, a group of Swedish Vikings under Rurik

settled at Novgorod. After Rurik’s death, Oleg captured

the town of Kiev. He established an empire called

Kievan Rus, which would

later give rise to the

medieval czardom

of Russia.

Silver loop for a chain

TREE OF LIFE

An Oriental tree of life is

etched on the surface of this

silver locket. It may have been

an amulet, perhaps full of

strong-smelling spices. The

locket was found in a grave in

Birka, Sweden. But it was

probably made in the Volga

area of Russia, or even as far

south as Baghdad.

VIKING GRAFFITI
This stone lion once stood in
the Greek port of Piraeus.
A Viking traveler inscribed
it with long, looping bands
of runes, Scandinavian
writing (pp. 58–59). Such
graffiti is often the only
evidence of where Vikings
traveled. Much later, in 1687,
Venetian soldiers carried the
lion off to Venice. The runes
have eroded too much to be
read today.

EASTERN FASHIONS

Gotland is an island in the Baltic Sea. Gotland

Vikings traveled far into Russia, and their excellent

craftsmen often adopted styles from the east. These

beads and pendant are made of rock crystal set in

silver. They were probably made in Gotland,

where they were found. But the style

is distinctly Slav or Russian.

High-quality rock

crystal shaped

like a convex lens

SWEDISH VIKINGS

Most of the Vikings who traveled to Russia and the

east were Swedish. Of more than 85,000 Arab coins found

in Scandinavia, 80,000 were found in Sweden. Many 11th-

century Swedish rune stones tell of voyages to the south

and east. They record the deaths of travelers in Russia,

Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and even Muslim lands.

Most Viking settlements were temporary trading

stations. Others, like Kiev and Novgorod, were more

permanent. A sign of this is that women lived there, too.

CHECKERED PAST

This silver cup was

made in the Byzantine

Empire in the 11th century. It was taken

back to Gotland by Vikings, who added a

name and a magical inscription on the

bottom in runes. The cup was buried around

1361 and found by ditch-diggers in 1881.

Birds,

leaves, and

winged lions