After the Roman Empire had disappeared, gold became scarce and Scandinavians began to make objects of gilded bronze, with decorations of interlacing animals in Scandinavian style. Bernadotte was originally one of Napoleon's eighteen Marshals. They successfully cultivated peace with the Germans, supplying them with needed raw materials. Denmark was still willing to enter into an alliance with Sweden, but the Swedes saw few advantages in this and the proposal fell. The Danes and then Swedes intervened at various points to protect their interests. They too started to cultivate the land, and by 3000 BC they became part of the megalithic Funnelbeaker culture. In Denmark Harald Bluetooth Christianized the country around 965. Leaving Wessex, the Danes settled to the north, in an area known as Danelaw. Many of them became farmers and traders and established York as a leading mercantile city. Viking religious beliefs were heavily connected to Norse mythology. Finland and Iceland are at times, especially in English-speaking contexts, considered part of Scandinavia. The Danish king and his court were interested in linking the figure of Beowulf to Cnut's ancestors. During its heyday, the Danish and Swedish East India Companies imported more tea than the British East India Company and smuggled 90% of it into Britain where it could be sold at a huge profit. Olaf Tryggvason: Olaf Tryggvason (964-1000) was the first to have widespread evangelistic success in Norway. The Swedish Ynglings might have been invented to glorify the Norwegian kings further, giving them a glorious and mythical past associated with Uppsala. The same is true for the Hervarar saga, whose sequence of kings is identical to the sequence presented in Langfegatal. Langfegatal presents the following line of kings: The Langfegatal reconstruction of the Muns dynasty and the later lineage of Swedish kings it presents does not conform with medieval Swedish primary sources. From around A.D. 800 to the 11th century, a vast number of Scandinavians left their homelands to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Together with Finland and Iceland, almost a third of the population left in the eighty years after 1850. From this period there are many mounds and fields of petroglyphs, but their signification is long since lost. A new constitution was introduced, and his uncle Charles XIII was enthroned. The nine greatest Viking kings and leaders are: Ragnar Lodbrok Cnut the Great Erik the Red Rollo of Normandy Herald of Norway Olaf Tryggvason Leif Eriksson Ivar the Boneless Gorm the Old These leaders and kings are known for their incredible reigns, legacies, and famous discoveries. He won the Frisvellir battle at Old Uppsala after sacrificing to Odin that if he won, he would give himself for ten years. In the wave of Viking attacks in England after 851, only one kingdomWessexwas able to successfully resist. During the Ingrian War Sweden expanded its territories eastward. The exact reasons for Vikings venturing out from their homeland are uncertain; some have suggested it was due to overpopulation of their homeland, but the earliest Vikings were looking for riches, not land. In the writings of his companion Rimbert, the Vita Ansgari, several Swedish kings (who all precede Eric the Victorious) and who they met or heard of at Birka, an important Viking Age trading center, are mentioned. Coastal areas were ice-free several times between 75 000 and 30 000 years B.P. During the Viking Age, the Vikings (Scandinavian warriors and traders) raided, colonized and explored large parts of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa, as far west as Newfoundland. The most popular destinations in North America were Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Michigan, the Canadian prairies and Ontario. Vikings gained control of the Northern Isles of Scotland (Shetland and the Orkneys), the Hebrides and much of mainland Scotland. Viking armies (mostly Danish) conquered East Anglia and Northumberland and dismantled Mercia, while in 871 King Alfred the Great of Wessex became the only king to decisively defeat a Danish army in England. Large-scale raids, often organized by royal leaders, hit the coasts of Europe and especially England, where the line of kings descended from Alfred the Great was faltering. Norway and Denmark subsequently became signatory parties of the North Atlantic Treaty and members of NATO. The Kirk Douglas . It is not known what language these early Scandinavians spoke, but towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, they were overrun by new tribes who many scholars think spoke Proto-Indo-European, the Battle-Axe culture. The first mention of a King of Norway - as a unified entity - is found upon the Jelling Stones, which were carved runestones from the 10th century in Denmark. Sweden abandoned the tie to gold on 2 August 1914, and without a fixed exchange rate the free circulation came to an end. Sweden had the short lived colony New Sweden in Delaware in North America during the 1630s and later acquired the islands of Saint-Barthlemy (17851878) and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. He arrived in Norway on 25 November 1905, taking the name Haakon VII. hgin, Dith. [4] The Ynglings are described in the Ynglinga saga as the first royal blood line of the Swedes. [14] The presence of Slavs in Scandinavia is "more significant than previously thought"[14] although "the Slavs and their interaction with Scandinavia have not been adequately investigated". When it became known that the western alliance would not be able to supply the Scandinavian countries with armaments before meeting their own pressing needs, this issue ultimately proved to be the turning point for Norway, which resigned from the talks. Crowned king of England on Christmas Day in 1066, William managed to retain the crown against further Danish challenges. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Scandinavia was never really one country, but in one periode there was a Scandinavian union of Norway, Denmark and Sweden called the Kalmar union, 1397 -1523. The war did have a significant impact on the economy of the area, primarily as a result of the British blockade of Germany. In Denmark industrialization began in, and was confined to, Copenhagen until the 1890s, after which smaller towns began to grow rapidly. Nevertheless, there was a hostile relationship, with an occupation force of almost one German for every ten Norwegians. All Rights Reserved. While there had been a handful of silent films and some smaller movies, the first Viking film with real cultural impact is Richard Fleischer's aptly named The Vikings in 1958. It started by a coordinated attack on Sweden by the coalition in 1700 and ended 1721 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad and the Stockholm treaties. These early peoples followed cultural traditions similar to those practised throughout other regions in the far north areas including modern Finland, Russia, and across the Bering Strait into the northernmost strip of North America. One important collection that exists, however, is a widespread and rich collection of stone drawings known as petroglyphs. However, the treaty of Kiel never came into force. Iceland first became colonized in the late 9th century[citation needed] . However, his sudden death in 1810 forced the Swedes to look for another candidate, and once more they chose an enemy officer. The history of Scandinavia is the history of the geographical region of Scandinavia and its peoples. Haralds rebellious son, Sven Forkbeard, led Viking raids on England beginning in 991 and conquered the entire kingdom in 1013, sending King Ethelred into exile. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. During Vasa's reign the right to inherit the Swedish crown was ratified through so called succession agreements. Adam of Bremen instead gives a more linear succession of Eric and Eric, followed by Halsten, Anund Grdske and then Hkan the Red. The Nordic Bronze Age ended with a deteriorating, colder and wetter climate. Another notable effect was the Swedish parliament's adoption of a new constitution and a new royal house, that of Bernadotte. [2], In medieval Swedish lists of kings, the figure generally represented as the first king of Sweden is Olof Sktkonung,[3] the first Christian king of Sweden and the first Swedish king to mint coins. Sweden, allied with Britain at the time, seized the opportunity to invade Norway in 1807 but was beaten back. The second is lighter, adorned with 2,868 diamonds . Some valleys close to the watershed were indeed ice-free around 30 000 years B.P. Denmark was the most easily transformed, as the Viking raids slowly introduced the religion through the Christian wives and slaves brought back as war prizes. North speculates that he took this second copy of Beowulf with him during the expedition, so it could shown like a charter, especially . In 911 the Viking leader Rollo became the first duke of Normandy, as a vassal of Charles III of France. In most sources Yngvi is presented as the same figure as Freyr, the son of Njrr. Harald Fairhair (c. 870-c. 930) is generally recognized as Norway's first true king. Sweden joined the EU in 1995; after the fall of the Soviet Union, Sweden felt it could do so without being provocative. Another Norse tradition was that of blood feuds, which particularly had devastated Iceland. Rollo, or Rolf, was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy in Northern France. Olaf Tryggvason started the destruction of pagan cult sites in the late 10th century, but only Olaf Haraldsson achieved the official adaption of Christianity in the 1020s. [23] Adam of Bremen's line of kings is thus: The Sparlsa Runestone, created c. 800, mentions several names, including the name Alrkr (Alaric) in an unclear context, the name Eirkr (Eric) in reference to a king at Uppsala and the name Eyvsl as the son of this Eirkr. Olaf II managed to bring English clergy to his country. The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in the 1530s, and Scandinavia soon became one of the heartlands of Lutheranism. The Viking predecessorspirates who preyed on merchant ships in the Baltic Seawould use this knowledge to expand their fortune-seeking activities into the North Sea and beyond. The early Germanic Iron Age is the period when the Danes appear in history, and according to Jordanes, they were of the same stock as the Swedes (suehans, suetidi) and had replaced the Heruls. Because he was the first King to rule over the entirety of Norway, he is considered the country's first King. Near the beginning of World War II in late 1939, both the Allies and the Axis Powers feared their enemies gaining power in Scandinavia. One of the most prominent finds is the Dejbjerg wagon from Jutland, a four-wheeled wagon of wood with bronze parts. They also desired Norway for its ice-free ports. The final few kings considered part of the Muns dynasty by the Icelandic sagas; Eric the Victorious, Olof Sktkonung, Anund Jacob and Emund the Old, were real historical kings, though that does not mean that their legendary ancestors were real historical figures. Though the stories of some of the kings may be embellished tales of local rulers or chiefs that actually existed. The Swedish rise to power began under the rule of Charles IX. Denmark: Queen Margrethe II is the first female monarch to reign in Denmark since her name sake, Margrethe I, who was credited for uniting the three Scandinavian countries within the Kalmar Union in the 1400s. This is when pre-Viking-Age Scandanavians likely settled. Adolf Frederick or Adolph Frederick was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach. It is possible that the saga preserves a grain of the truth, perhaps being an embellishment of vague memories of an ancient warrior king, but most of what is said of Ivar Vidfamne has to be considered legendary and fictional. Rise to power. Both Sweden and Denmark-Norway maintained a number of colonies outside Scandinavia starting in the 17th century lasting until the 20th century. As with the Yngling kings, precise dates are not presented in the sagas for Ivar Vidfamne or his descendants, but his reign is estimated to have taken place in the 7th century. Also like Christian IV, Gustavus Adolphus was subsidized by Richelieu, the Chief Minister of King Louis XIII of France, and by the Dutch. Scandinavia was divided during the Napoleonic Wars. The Thirty Years' War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the Central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire but also involving most of the major continental powers. After the battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Bernadotte abandoned the pursuit of Napoleon and marched against Denmark, where he forced the king of Denmark-Norway to conclude the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January 1814. Denmark's strategy proved the more beneficial in the short run. Several petroglyphs depict ships which could possibly be Mediterranean. 'saga kings / fairy tale kings') according to legends were rulers of Sweden and the Swedes who preceded Eric the Victorious and Olof Sktkonung, the earliest reliably attested Swedish kings. The region is located in Northern Europe, and consists of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Negotiations in Karlstad led to agreement with Sweden on 23 September and mutual demobilization. [10] The Sami are counted among the Arctic peoples and are members of circumpolar groups such as the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat.[11]. Denmark also maintained colonies in India, Tranquebar and Frederiksnagore. Gustavus Adolphus, like Christian IV before him, came to aid the German Lutherans to forestall Catholic aggression against their homeland and to obtain economic influence in the German states around the Baltic Sea. For the first time in 900 years, kings and queens from around the world are going to a British coronation. In A.D. 793, an attack on the Lindisfarne monastery off the coast of Northumberland in northeastern England marked the beginning of the Viking Age. Norway declared its independence, adopted a liberal constitution, and elected Prince Christian Frederik as king. As a result of the war, Finland which formed the eastern third of Sweden proper became the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within Imperial Russia. Denmark remained primarily agricultural until well into the 20th century, but agricultural processes were modernized and processing of dairy and meats became more important than the export of raw agricultural products. [27] Denmark-Norway tried to remain neutral but became involved in the conflict after British demands to turn over the navy. Nerthus is often suggested to be the same woman as Njrr's unidentified sister, by whom he begat Freyr and Freyja. Rollo Rollo became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10 th century. Another reason was that they had no real agenda in Denmark. April 26th, 2023, 3:18 AM PDT. The inept government of King Gustav IV Adolf led to his deposition and banishment. The Swedish government was very careful to avoid inflaming the Nazis, going so far as to persuade newspaper editors to censor articles, and letting the Nazis move supplies through Sweden and into Norway all the way up to 1943. [9] The Yngling dynasty is sometimes referred to as the "Royal House of Uppsala" in later scholarship.[10]. Heather, the chair of medieval history at King's College London, is the author of Christendom: The Triumph of Religion, AD 300-1300 [11] As a historical source, the Ynglinga saga is much better used as a source on historiography and society during Sturluson's own time than as a source on Sweden's early history. [19] She bore him a son and a daughter: Emund the Old, King of Sweden, and Astrid, Queen of Norway. No more Danish attempts would be made to re-create the Kalmar Union following this war. Battles were short and decisively won by the Swedes. This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 00:01. [7] It mentions the following four kings: In terms of sources on Viking Age kings, Adam of Bremen, who worked in the 11th century and wrote of Swedish kings, is significantly closer in time and place to the kings he describe than the centuries of separation in the sagas, only being separated from the mentioned rulers by at most about 150100 years. The modern use of the term Scandinavia rises from the Scandinavist political movement, which was active in the middle of the 19th century, chiefly between the First war of Schleswig (18481850), in which Sweden and Norway contributed with considerable military force, and the Second war of Schleswig (1864) when the Riksdag of the Estates denounced the King's promises of military support for Denmark. In some places, names appear (notably kings Ottar and Adils) that might belong to people also attested in other sagas, such as Beowulf (written in the 10th11th century in England, but concerning events in Scandinavia in the 6th/7th century), wherein the Ynglings are called Scylfings (Old Norse: Skilfingar; Swedish: Skilvingar). [8], The Ynglinga saga contains no references to chronology (such as specific dates of the reigns of the various kings) with the exception of presenting the rulers in chronological order. The western-led warriors, eventually known as Vikings, left great cultural marks[citation needed] on regions such as French Normandy, England, and Ireland, where the city of Dublin was founded by Viking invaders. North of the Kongemose people lived other hunter-gatherers in most of southern Norway and Sweden called the Nstvet and Lihult cultures, descendants of the Fosna and Hensbacka cultures. One son, Jormunagund, was a serpent who grew so large that he stretched all the way around the earth. Armistice negotiations concluded on 14 August 1814. The Ynglinga saga presents the following line of Yngling kings of the Swedes: Sturluson's Ynglinga saga was created far too late to serve as a reliable source in regards to the events and kings it describes, being separated from the earliest ones by several centuries. This would prove useful when Cnut sailed to Denmark in 1019 to assert his claim to that country's throne. Vikings founded Kievan Rus in the mid-9th century, but Scandanavian settlements in Eastern Europe actually date back to at least A.D. 750. Denmark suffered many defeats during this period. The Norwegian vice-roy and heir to the throne of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederik took the lead in a national uprising, assumed the title of regent, and convened a constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll. Crawley, ed. At the same time, Germany feared that Britain could gain bases in the area and claimed they suspected an outright invasion. [9], The sequence of kings presented below is given by the Hervarar saga, a saga written in the 12th or 13th century. The Nordic countries established the Nordic Council in 1952 and the Nordic passport union two years later. The monetary union was one of the few tangible results of the Scandinavian political movement of the 19th century.[31]. . This region of northern France is now known as Normandy, or land of the Northmen.. Sweden. and the final expansion towards the late Weichselian maximum took place after 28 000 years B.P. In the peace negotiations, Christian Frederik agreed to relinquish claims to the Norwegian crown and return to Denmark if Sweden would accept the democratic Norwegian constitution and a loose personal union. The Cimbri and the Teutons were eventually defeated by the Roman legions. The proposed union was being discussed by a joint Scandinavian committee during the winter of 19481949, but the Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, and preparations for a western alliance that would result in the North Atlantic Treaty overshadowed the effort. These seafaring warriors-known collectively as Vikings or Norsemen. The nations reacted quite differently. After a 1972 referendum, Denmark became the first Scandinavian member of the European Economic Community, which later paved the way for the EU, in 1973. By the late 10th century, some Vikings (including the famous Erik the Red) moved even further westward, to Greenland. The Sami have been recognized as an indigenous people in Norway since 1990 according to ILO convention 169, and hence, according to international law, the Sami people in Norway are entitled special protection and rights. The Norwegian parliament offered the vacant throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, who accepted after another plebiscite had confirmed the monarchy. By the mid-ninth century, Ireland, Scotland and England had become major targets for Viking settlement as well as raids. [6], According to the Ynglinga saga, the Yngling dynasty's rule in Sweden was succeeded by Ivar Vidfamne, previously a petty king in Scania, who founded a new royal line. Their common groundand what made them different from the European peoples they confrontedwas that they came from a foreign land, they were not civilized in the local understanding of the word andmost importantlythey were not Christian. Sweden required a little more time to transition to Christianity, with indigenous religious practices commonly held in localized communities well until the end of the eleventh century. This new people advanced up to Uppland and the Oslofjord, and they probably provided the language that was the ancestor of the modern Scandinavian languages. As the story goes, King Gylfi thinks he will be able to sneak into Asgard without anyone knowing who he was, but the gods foresaw his arrival and made the realm appear even more grand than it was in . Sweden began consolidating its empire. While many Germanic tribes sustained continued contact with the culture and military presence of the Roman Empire, much of Scandinavia existed on the most extreme periphery of the Latin world. Built in 1960 and recently restored to its full . They founded Irelands first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and Limerick, and used their base on the Irish coast to launch attacks within Ireland and across the Irish Sea to England. On 14 January 1814, at the Treaty of Kiel, the king of Denmark-Norway ceded Norway to the king of Sweden. The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809. The name Viking came from the Scandinavians themselves, from the Old Norse word "vik" (bay or creek) which formed the root of "vikingr" (pirate). No written language existed in the Nordic countries during the Bronze Age. Many of the kings in the saga are overshadowed by their contemporary vassals and wives,[14] and they are rarely shown in a positive light. We strive for accuracy and fairness. In 1635 he became Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen too.) Gold was used to make scabbard mountings and bracteates; notable examples are the Golden horns of Gallehus. The first King of Norway was King Harald Fairhair. [18] Likewise, his son, Olof, fell in love with Edla, a Slavic woman, and took her as his frilla (concubine). A plebiscite on 13 August confirmed the parliamentary decision. and the final expansion towards the late Weichselian maximum took place after . A Carolingian mission (c. 820) was welcomed by King Bjorn of Sweden. However, new analyses revealed that the woman was a Slav from present-day Poland. in Jaime Reis, ed.. Johan den Hertog and Samul Kruizinga, eds. Many were buried without burning, but the burning tradition later regained its popularity. Finland remained as a part of Russian Empire until 1917 at which point it became independent. Upon his death (without heirs) in 1066, Harold Godwinesson, the son of Edwards most powerful noble, laid claim to the throne. Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus, http://blog.svd.se/historia/2011/10/13/varfor-jag-inte-tror-pa-sagokungar/, "Concerning Mass Graves: the Use, Development and Identities Within Mass Graves During the Scandinavian Iron Age and Middle Ages", "Kungalngder och historieskrivning: Fornsvenska och fornislndska kllor om Sveriges historia", "De ldsta sveakungarna enligt Ynglingasagan", "Kings and Queens of Sweden A thousand year succession", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_legendary_kings_of_Sweden&oldid=1135221997, This page was last edited on 23 January 2023, at 10:58. April 28, 2023. Who is the first King of Scandinavia? Sweden joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon in 1805, but the coalition fell apart after the peace at Tilsit in 1807, forcing Russia to become the ally of France. On these stones, it is Harald Bluetooth who is recorded as being the first King of Norway - as well as Denmark. [4], It is possible that the Yngling line of kings is entirely fictional, invented by later Norwegian rulers to assert their right to rule Norway. Ynglinga saga appears to have been based on an earlier scaldic poem, Ynglingatal, which is quoted at length by Snorri. The Danish East India Company operated out of Tranquebar. According to Rimbert the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the 9th century, king Olof at Birka was sent a message from King Horik of Denmark to allow the monk Ansgar to introduce Christianity. Greenland, Iceland and The Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic were Norwegian dependencies that were incorporated into the united kingdom of Denmark-Norway. Margaret I, (born 1353, Sborg, Den.died Oct. 28, 1412, Flensburg), regent of Denmark (from 1375), of Norway (from 1380), and of Sweden (from 1389), who, by diplomacy and war, pursued dynastic policies that led to the Kalmar Union (1397), which united Denmark, Norway, and Sweden until 1523 and Denmark and Norway until 1814. The Kongemose culture was dominant in this time period. In 1016, Cnut became king of England, and after further campaigns in Scandinavia he could claim in 1027 to be 'king of the whole of England and Denmark and Norway and of parts of Sweden'.. They have inhabited the northern arctic and sub-arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 5,000 years. King Christian Frederik abdicated and left for Denmark in October, and the Norwegian Storting (parliament) elected the Swedish king as King of Norway, after having enacted such amendments to the constitution as were necessary to allow for the union with Sweden. The main wave of Scandinavian emigration occurred in the 1860s lasting until the 1880s, although substantial emigration continued until the 1930s. In the Caribbean, Denmark started a colony on St Thomas in 1671, St John in 1718, and purchased Saint Croix from France in 1733. King Gylfi was the first king of Scandinavia and was known to have used the name Gangleri when trying to hide his identity on many occasions.
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