  Swedish Viking The VikingsMerchants or robbers? he name "Viking"
was first used by foreign authors in the 11th century AD. Its origin is
probably the Swedish word for bay, "vik". This shows the close connection
between the people and the sea, of which they were totally dependent for their
livelihood. They had a mythology of their own. Their gods were called "asar",
The Vikings are often considered wild, drunken, merciless robbers. In fact,
their main occupation was farming and trade. The Viking expeditions were mostly
trade expeditions that sometimes degenerated to looting. But to be honest,
there were also expeditions whose main purpose was to loot foreign coastal
regions.
The Swedish Vikings here is a
distinction between "Swedish" and "Danish/Norwegian" Vikings. The Danish and
Norwegian expeditions went westwards, concentrating on Western Europe and
England. The Swedish, on the other hand, went mostly eastwards into modern-day
Russia and further on to Byzantium and the Caliphate. Runestones and
archaeological artefacts found in eastern Sweden and on the island of Gotland show that
the trade exchange between eastern Sweden and the Near East was very intense at
this time in history. These expeditions often started from trade centres like
"Birka", situated on an island in Lake Mälaren, not far from modern-day
Stockholm.
The Vikings also settled in the Russian town of Novgorod, which they called
"Holmgård". As time went by their influence on the economic and political
life grew and became decisive. According to a chronicle written in the 12th
century AD, the Swedish Vikings were the founders of Russia. Although this is
not very likely, the influence of the Vikings is still visible. The name Russia
for instance, probably originates from one of the names of the Swedish Vikings,
"ruser".
The way towards a state uring the Viking
period (circa 750-1060 AD) the Swedish state began to take form. At the
beginning of the period the power structure in Scandinavia was built mainly on
small chiefdoms, where small local chiefs ruled over a limited area, often not
more far-reaching than a large farm or a village. These chiefdoms grew in some
areas and became more extensive as time went by. In what was to become Sweden
two "tribes" or local "nationalities", "Göter" and "Svear" became the most
influential and formed two "states" with kings as leaders. Later in history
these "states" merged and formed Sweden. Even today we talk about
"Götaland" (the Land of Göter) and "Svealand" (the Land of Svear).
The Gods ccording to Nordic
mythology the gods lived in "Asgård", the humans in "Midgård, and
the giants in "Jotunheim". These places were situated in the world tree, the
ash tree "Yggdrasil". The most important god was "Oden", the lord of gods and
humans. After battles, he took the fallen Vikings to "Valhall" on his horse
"Sleipner". Other gods were "Frö", the god of love and fertility and
"Fröja", the goddess of love and fertility. The perhaps most famous among
the gods is "Tor" the mightiest warrior of them all. He was the god of thunder
and had a hammer called "Mjölner" which, like a boomerang, returned to his
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