The travels of Gorm in Eastern Europe
Arnold Lelis and Heidi Sherman-Lelis
The Vikings were not just the raiders of monasteries and pillagers of towns in western Europe, they also raided, explored, traded and settled along the river systems of eastern Europe as well. The Viking travelers/traders/explorers in Eastern Europe are largely known from later sources in the Christian world, but archeology, runic and Islamic sources can provide us with contemporary records for what life was like among these Scandinavians in a foreign land. The archeological record provides us with evidence for the trade undertaken by these Scandinavians, in this portrait particularly we have plentiful evidence of the glass trade undertaken by Gorm. Runic inscriptions in Scandinavia provide terse, but fascinating evidence of Scandinavians who did not make it home from their travels in the east or Serkland as the Islamic territories were known. Finally, Islamic sources themselves, most famously that of Ibn Fadlan, describe the local Slavic population as well as the Scandinavians and their customs, including wearing their wealth, descriptions of their weapons and their burial customs. This portrait attempts to weave together this disparate source base to present a small slice of one man’s life in medieval eastern Europe bridging cultures, language groups, and regions.
A brief definition of terms is required here. I mentioned above that Serkland (possibly from serkr [gown] + land) was the Old Norse name in the Runic inscriptions for the territories to the east ruled by Muslims. Other Old Norse terms used throughout this portrait should also be noted. The term Gardariki (Realm of towns [or fortified settlements]) is the Old Norse name for the land that would later be called Rus’. The term Miklagard (from mikill [big] + gard [town]) is the Old Norse name for Constantinople. The term Ostweg (East way) refers to the route eastward through Gardariki via rivers and portages to Sarkland and Miklagard. The term Holmgard (holm [island] + gard [town]) is the Old Norse name for Novgorod (because of the island in the middle of the river on which it is located).
Further Reading
Ibn Fadlan, Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, trans. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone (New York: Penguin, 2012).
The Russian Primary Chronicle, trans. and eds Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor (Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1953).
Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard, The Emergence of Rus, 900–1200 (New York: Longman, 1996).
Thomas S. Noonan, The Islamic World, Russia and the Vikings (New York: Variorum, 1998).