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- [00:00]
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- [00:17]
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- [00:59]
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- [01:21]
Ian Glenn
It's the middle of the 8th century. Were on the island of Ursa in the Baltic Sea. In the distance, across the bay, there's a dark streak low across the horizon, the coastline of today's Estonia. The pewter swell rolls beneath a blanket of oppressive cloud. The uneven crash of waves forms a mournful chorus. A group of men sit around a campfire, feasting on cooked meats. Though there's an air of moroseness in their demeanor, they lay some of the stakes to one side, as if they're waiting for others to join them. Their shoulders are hunched, their heads hung in sorrow. This is a solemn banquet. At the end of it, they rise abruptly. Then they drag two boats up the shore, pulling them along a narrow spit of land. The first vessel is a small rowing boat. The second is larger, a longship. The men exchange terse nods before trudging over to a grim arrangement on the ground. A line of bodies stretches out before them, 41 of their comrades side by side in death. The marks of battle show on the blood soaked corpses. Wounds gape in their flesh. These are the members of their party who perished when they were ambushed by local tribesmen. The men carry the bodies reverently over to the vessels first on the rowing boat, they seat six of the dead upright on the benches, as if preparing them to row into the next world. The remaining 34 are placed in the longship, the corpses stacked neatly in layers. The last body is that of their king, in whose service they came to Ursel. His wounds are among the worst of them all, a sign that he did not shirk from the fight. One of the men hammers at the blade of a sword, bending it out of shape before it is placed among the dead. Swords have spirits, too, which must be released so that they may accompany the dead to the next world. Other objects are placed in the boats. Beads, beartooth pendants, antlerhorn combs, and gaming pieces carved from whalebone and walrus tusks. One of these, the king's piece, is gently positioned between the actual monarch's teeth. The meat that was set aside from the funeral feast is now distributed among the dead. Finally, a number of dogs and hawks are sacrificed and added to the mass graves. A roof of overlapping shields is constructed over the larger boat. The ship's sail is draped on top. Then two swords are driven down to mark the spot. The men are eager to be on their way. They leave the boats unburied, fearing a second attack. As they put out to sea, they cast a last glance back. The two boat tombs are visible on the headland, a lasting memorial to their fallen comrades. Soon a storm will pick up. It will bury the vessels in a layer of sand and grit, completing the work the men left undone. Centuries pass, more sediment builds, the coastline changes, the site of the burial moves inland, and the grave of the fallen king and his warriors is lost forever. Or at least until 2008. I'm ian glenn from the noiser podcast network. This is real vikings part 4. In our very first episode, we witnessed the discovery of two Viking graveboats in Salmi on the Estonian island of Saarema. It's the present day name for Ursel, where our opening scene has just taken place. You may remember how the archaeological find in 2008 challenged the traditional date for the beginning of the Viking age, taking it back to as early as 750, half a century before the attack on Lindisfarne, the usual given start point for the Viking era. Samir is important for another reason too. In our story so far, we followed Vikings as they strike out to the west, carrying out raids and waging war against the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Britain, also to the south, taking on the Frankish Empire on mainland Europe. Now it's time to turn our attention in another direction. One that's often overlooked when people think about the Vikings. The East. The significance of the Samy boat burials cannot be overstated. Dr. Eleanor Barraclough in some ways, Viking
- [07:21]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
trade, or at least contacts in the east, are the earliest evidence we have for the Viking age actually existing at all.
- [07:30]
Ian Glenn
As we heard in our first episode, isotope analysis has shown that many of the men buried at Samy came from the Maelar Valley in Sweden. The design of their ships and the style of their weaponry are distinctly Scandinavian. It's hard to escape the conclusion these men are Vikings. So what exactly are they doing in Estonia?
- [07:53]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
It doesn't look necessarily like they were a raiding party because it doesn't quite fit, not least with the very high status items that they have been subsequently buried with. So that includes all these beautiful gaming pieces, these beautiful weapons, jewels, but also hunting birds, birds of prey, which again, there's no reason you're going to take a bird of prey on a raid.
- [08:19]
Ian Glenn
In fact, birds of prey were often given as diplomatic gifts.
- [08:25]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
The suggestion is that this is actually a high status diplomacy mission. These people are heading out to make contact with different cultures and different peoples further east, possibly in order to establish trading links.
- [08:44]
Ian Glenn
As we have heard throughout, Viking interactions with other peoples are often complex. They're capable of switching from peaceful trading to violent raiding, negotiating treaties one minute, plundering churches the next.
- [08:59]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
So then you have to think, well, okay, who's attacking? Is it locals, is it warring peoples who are sort of objecting to the fact that this group are trying to establish diplomacy and trade links? We don't know the story that's behind it.
- [09:13]
Ian Glenn
What we do know is that great care was taken over the burial and
- [09:18]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
there seems to have been a feast with, you know, animals consumed that took place beforehand and beautiful grave goods, weapons, lots and lots of gaming pieces, several dogs that have been sort of killed to join their masters in the next life.
- [09:36]
Ian Glenn
Whether the dead men were on the winning or losing side of whatever conflict took place, we don't know. But clearly their surviving comrades were able to recover their bodies and conduct formal burial rites on a grand scale. When it comes to geography, the presence of Viking boats in Estonia is not that surprising. The east coast of Sweden is washed by the Baltic Sea or the Oostmar, the Eastern Sea, as the Vikings call it. From the east coast of Sweden to Salmi is a distance of about 170 miles as the crow flies. To the Vikings, an expanse of water like the Baltic is not a barrier, it's an invitation. And we know from the sagas that Vikings were active in the Baltic. In fact, some historians have tried to link this expedition to the semi legendary King Ingvar of Sweden, whose exploits are recounted later by the historian Snorri Sturluson in the Ynglinga Saga. According to Snorri, writing in the 13th century, Ingvar was killed while campaigning on an island in the Baltic. The name of the island Ersol. Could the high status individual buried with a king gaming piece in his mouth be this mystical Ingvar? It's an intriguing thought. It's worth pausing for a moment to take in the vast distances that we will cover when following the Vikings on their eastern trajectory. Let's say you set out from Birka, a Viking emporium not far from present day Stockholm. First cross the Baltic Sea. Then continue deep into the Gulf of Finland to the mouth of the Nevar river, where the modern city of St Petersburg is located. A total distance of around 400 nautical miles so far. But this is just the start of your journey. A comparatively short trip along the 46 mile length of the neighbourhood gives you access to Lake Ladoga, over 100,000 square miles of fresh water. Hugging the southern shore, you make your way east to the mouth of the Volkhov River. The next leg of your journey is a River passage 120 miles along the Volkhov to Lake Ilmen. As you travel south, you'll notice the landscape around you change. The dense forests of today's northern Russia give way to wide open grasslands. The steppes. From Lake Ilmen, you can navigate a network of rivers leading south. At times, you will have to get out of your boat and haul it overland from one river to another, a process known as portage. Eventually you will reach the Black Sea via the Dnieper river, entering it near modern day Kherson. But beware, this last stretch of your journey is fraught with peril. First, there are the rapids, caused by granite outcrops churning up the flow of the river. These rapids are so notorious that those who have traveled this way before you have bestowed upon them cautionary titles. The first, called Aesupi, means do not sleep. Little chance of that amid the din of crashing water. After Aesupi, there are eight more to clear, with names that translate as roaring, ever violent and laughing. Whatever you do, don't be tempted to sail through the middle of them. Better to disembark and portage past the danger. But rapids aren't the only peril you'll face along this stretch of the Dnieper. The Pechenegs, a fierce tribe of horse mounted Archers. Nomads from Central Asia are known to prey on travelers here, picking them off when they are at their most vulnerable. Once in the Black Sea, you can hug the western shore to sail south to your ultimate destination, the great city of Constantinople, or Miklagard, as the Vikings call it, where riches await, hopefully enough to compensate you for your long and arduous journey. The distance of this last leg alone from Lake Ilmen to Constantinople is around 1,500 miles. Go back to Lake Ilmen and there is another route you can take down the Lovat river and then the Volga. From there, you can access the Caspian Sea. Sail south across it, and you come to the coast of Persia, present day Iran. There, you will need to arrange a secure mooring for your boat before switching to a different kind of ship, a camel, the ship of the desert, which will take you all the way to the capital of the Abbasid Empire, Baghdad. Why are the Vikings here? Why do they keep going and going along these immense river networks, so very far from home? Professor Elizabeth Rowe.
- [15:11]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
When we think about Scandinavians traveling in the east, we see that they are motivated by the same desire for portable wealth that they are when thinking about the Vikings to the West.
- [15:26]
Ian Glenn
But there are important differences.
- [15:29]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
The situation in the east is rather different to what is found in Western Europe and the British Isles and Ireland. So northern Russia has no towns, no
- [15:40]
Ian Glenn
monasteries, in other words, no soft targets stacked with portable wealth. Instead, the Eastern Vikings must focus predominantly on trade. And these extensive trade routes give them access to lucrative markets.
- [15:57]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
Valuable goods from India and China are coming across Central Asia.
- [16:04]
Ian Glenn
One commodity in particular is of interest to the Vikings. Its source is the sprawling Islamic caliphate that spans much of North Africa and the Middle East.
- [16:15]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
The caliphate is minting coins of nearly pure silver. These are called dirhams. The caliphate includes territory that's now Afghanistan. This area contains a number of silver mines, and so the caliphate is easily able to mint a very large quantity of coins that have quite a lot of value as bullion.
- [16:39]
Ian Glenn
The Vikings have no natural source of silver in their own homelands, and so if they want this precious metal, which they do, they have to go out and get it. As they come into contact with merchants and travelers from the east, they can't help being impressed by the silver coins in their possession.
- [16:57]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
Traveling Scandinavians discover that there are some quite valuable coins. And when they ask where these coins come from, they're pointed downstream to the Volga.
- [17:09]
Ian Glenn
And of course, in return for these coveted dirhams, the Vikings have a number of goods to trade. Furs, walrus ivory and above all, human beings. Professor Steffen Brink. Slavery was enormously important for the trading and the economy, bringing in huge amount of silver home to Scandinavia. And so while it's true that Vikings operating these prefer trading to raiding, the trade they engage in more than any other is slavery.
- [17:52]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
They would travel along the river and they would raid the Slavic people who lived nearby, and they would take some of them to be slaves and. And they would also take as plunder furs and any other products of the northern forests. And so these groups of armed slavers, traders, would eventually capture more and more slaves as they made the long voyage down the Volga.
- [18:24]
Ian Glenn
Chillingly, the very name for the local people, Slavs, is from where the word slave derives to the Vikings, only one thing matters.
- [18:37]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
At the trading town of Itil, Arabic merchants would come to buy the slaves. Arabic sources describe how profitable this was for both sides.
- [18:54]
Ian Glenn
In the 9th century, a river of dirhams flows back to Scandinavia. Some are melted down and turned into rings and other valuable objects. Many are hoarded, hidden under floorboards or buried in the ground. It's Friday, July 16, 1999. We're on the large Swedish island of Gotland, 100 miles out into the Baltic, more precisely on a farm, Spilling's farm, not far from the town of Slyta. It's a summer's day, pleasant, apart from the mosquitoes. Gotland is notorious for them. Trudging across a field is an archaeologist, Jonas Sturm, who sweeps before him with a metal detector. He's demonstrating his technique to a television film crew. They're from Swedish channel TV4. They are shooting a segment for a political program about unlicensed digging and the looting of artifacts, a problem that is on the rise. Gotland soil, Strohm explains to camera in one of several repeated takes, is becoming a favored spot for amateur bounty hunters. A would be treasure island. It's every detectorist's dream, he adds casually, to discover a hoard of Viking silver. Job done, the crew starts packing up. But then something happens. Strm's detector is about to go literally off the scale. He will later recall how the display on his detector blinked overload before shutting down completely. Such was the magnitude of his discovery. As the crew scramble to remount the camera, word goes out. The area is soon cordoned off and a major archaeological excavation will get underway. The Spillings hoard, as it will be known, will turn out to be the largest cache of Viking silver ever unearthed. For the team from TV4, quite the money shot. Here we have found over 700 hordes with more than 170,000 silver coins, all in principle, Arabic silver diram. And the largest one hoard weighed 67 kilos. Enormous amounts of silver. But not all of the silver acquired by Viking traders on the eastern trade routes is being channeled back to Scandinavia. Because not all Vikings are returning home. A significant proportion are settling, putting down routes, establishing trading outposts, building a power base. Professor Ben Rafield Associated with this is
- [22:05]
Professor Ben Rafield
the emergence of a group or a polity that we know as the Rus, who appear to have been major players in establishing a network of trading centers on these riverine trade routes.
- [22:19]
Ian Glenn
We first hear of a people called the Rus in 839. The Annals of St. Burton mentions that a group of them are present at the court of the Frankish king Louis the Pious, who, if you remember, we met in episode two, around the time Ragnar Lothbrok was making inroads into the Carolingian Empire. King Louis makes inquiries and discovers that they are dislocated Swedes. In other words, Vikings. The name Rhus may be derived from the old Norse word Rua, meaning to row. It may also be connected to Ruz Lagan, a region on the east coast of Sweden. Ruislagen translates as rowing country. Either way, it seems that the Rus are strongly associated with oar powered boats. The first Rus may well have come from Sweden, as Louis the Pious believed, but over time, they will be seen to be a distinct group in their own right. The river traders, we might call them.
- [23:23]
Professor Ben Rafield
There's a lot of debate about who the Rus were. I personally see them as a sort of multicultural, militarized and perhaps primarily merchant group.
- [23:32]
Ian Glenn
This combination of military power and commercial acumen allows the Rus to become the dominant power along the river routes of Eastern Europe. Their power base is spread throughout a network of important trading settlements.
- [23:46]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
These traders, and indeed quite often raiders, come down these waterways, establish these outposts where they can mend their boats, they can barter, they can get tribute from local tribes, or just raid them. We start to see this vast network that's running all the way down the continent.
- [24:11]
Ian Glenn
The Norse name for the territory of the Rus is Garthariki, or realm of towns. It shows how vital settlements are to its emerging identity. The most important of these settlements, the central hub in the Vikings eastward expansion, is a place known today as Staraya Ladoga, or Old Ladoga.
- [24:45]
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- [25:15]
Depop Advertiser
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- [26:00]
Ian Glenn
Thanks to Dendrochronology, basically counting the tree rings and ancient timbers, archaeologists can date the foundations of Staraya Ladoga to the year 753. This coincides with other Viking trading settlements or emporia being set up further west. Places like Birka in Sweden or Hiedeby in Denmark. Staraya Ladoga couldn't be better placed for commercial success. It's situated at the mouth of the Volkhov river on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, a gateway to the interior, connecting with the river networks that lead ultimately to both Constantinople and Baghdad. The street plan follows a strict linear pattern, which might give you the impression of civic order, but bear in mind that these streets are muddy and waterlogged.
- [26:57]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
It's almost like, I don't know, a service station on a motorway. It's not a politically organized town, it's simply there to provide goods and services and to repair boats and sails and ropes and so forth to the Scandinavians who are going back and forth.
- [27:18]
Ian Glenn
Another analogy that historians sometimes use is is a frontier town of the American West. The Wild east you might say, with sword swingers instead of gunslingers. Whatever else it is, old Ladoga is a melting pot. Sami fur trappers rub shoulders with Baltic loggers. You'll hear local Slavic languages spoken as well as Finnish and Old Norse Arabic too, as wide eyed travelers from the caliphate shake their heads in wonder at the strange habits of the tall, imposing northerners. You'll see the multi ethnic population reflected in the different styles of the buildings square timber Structures favoured by local Slavs sit alongside the rectangular longhouses built by the Nordic traders.
- [28:11]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Those earliest layers of that port seem to be of Scandinavian foundation. It looks like they're the ones that set it up. But of course, as time goes on, many, many more people from different cultural backgrounds are coming there to trade. And so it becomes much more multifaceted, much more culturally complex.
- [28:36]
Ian Glenn
It's a place of opportunity and enrichment, where deals are made, where plans take shape and partnerships are forged. Everything revolves around a three way trade of furs, silver and slaves. And although it may seem rough and ready and at times dangerous, old Ladoga is not a completely lawless outpost. It couldn't function if it were. Prosperity depends on security. Someone has to maintain order internally and protect the inhabitants from outside threats. This is where the Rus come in. They provide the military muscle to keep everyone safe. Defenses are thrown up around the central residential area. A fortress is built on a promontory. The pattern is repeated all along the eastern trading routes. As a result, commercial dominance crosses over into something bigger.
- [29:32]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
So this is the point at which we see the Rus, the Scandinavians, or the people of Scandinavian descent, who had been based in northern Russia. Here we see the transition from slaver merchant to political actor.
- [29:52]
Ian Glenn
But how do these outsiders take over the land, not just the economy of the Slavs, so successfully? An origin story springs up. Like all origin stories, it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially as this one is written down long after the events. It first appears in the 12th century in a source called the Russian Primary Chronicle. According to The Chronicle, the 860s is a time of trouble for the Slavic people. They are constantly preyed upon by northern raiders, referred to as Varangians, derived from an old Norse word meaning oath, companion. Varangian is often used as a synonym for Viking, specifically the Rus Vikings. Eventually, the Slavs manage to repel the Varangians, but then start fighting among themselves in an attempt to bring peace to their warring land. It is said, the Slavs send a delegation to a group of Varangians, presumably not the ones who have been attacking them, inviting them to come and rule over them. Three brothers, Rorik, Truvor and Cneus, graciously accept the invitation. Rurik establishes himself in Novgorod, north of Lake Ilmen. His brothers base themselves a few hundred miles either side of him, laying claim to a respectable tranche of territory between them. When Truvor and Cneas die a couple of years later, Roeric takes over their lands to go with his own. And so a dynasty is founded.
- [31:42]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
His dynasty is called the Rurikids, and they essentially remain powerful for centuries. I think even Ivan the Terrible, whose 16th century is said to be of the Rurikid line.
- [31:54]
Ian Glenn
Whatever the truth behind the story, it's clear that something significant has happened.
- [32:00]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
And we can see from the Russian primary chronicle that in the 12th century, the Rus rulers knew that their dynasty had its origin in Scandinavia.
- [32:13]
Ian Glenn
The Rus have really arrived in the east, and they are here to stay. The reason for the dynasty's success may lie in Rurik's initial decision of where to settle.
- [32:24]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
And Novgorod, where Rurik is said to have set up his power base, is a really strategically significant location. So it's connected to the River Volkhov heading up north to this trading town of Staryla Dogo. And then if we look south from Novgorod, the rivers then flow towards Kyiv.
- [32:44]
Ian Glenn
And further than that, the Norse name for Novgorod is Holmgard, the island fortress. It becomes the capital of Garthariki, the land of the Rus. After Rurik's death in 879, the center of Rurikid power shifts 560 miles south to Kyiv in modern day Ukraine. But even as the Rus extend their realm to the south and east, they continue to maintain ties with their homelands in the north. They now act as middlemen between the lucrative Eastern markets and Scandinavia. There are other connections too, also.
- [33:33]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
There was a kind of military connection in the form of Scandinavian mercenaries whom the Rus occasionally needed. And the reason why the Rus occasionally needed mercenaries was because part of their Scandinavian heritage was the idea that any male in the royal family had an equal claim to the throne.
- [33:57]
Ian Glenn
Access to a cadre of fierce warriors is bound to be an advantage in any dynastic infighting. But it isn't just internal rivals that the leaders of the Rus have to contend with. Contact with outsiders always has the potential to turn into conflict, especially as the Rus continue to grow their trading empire. Bulgars, Slavs, Khazars, Pechenegs, Magyars. And dominating them all, the mighty Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the old Roman realm. It's a complex picture with shifting alliances and unpredictable outbreaks of fighting. But as multicultural melting pots like old Ladoga show, violence isn't the only option. When disparate groups rub up against each other, increasingly, the Rus choose another strategy. Integration.
- [34:55]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
So we can see a possible shift from Norse to Slavic identity that takes place over, well, actually over two generations of Kyivan Rus rulers. So from sort of 912 to 945, the ruler of Kievan Rus is called Igor, and He's married to God Olga.
- [35:14]
Ian Glenn
Igor and Olga may sound like archetype or Slavic names, but they're not.
- [35:20]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Igor comes from the old Norse name Ingvar or Ivar, and Olga comes from the Norse name Helga. But what's interesting is that they name their son with the Slavic name Sviatoslav.
- [35:35]
Ian Glenn
It's a conscious political decision.
- [35:39]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
Presumably they think it is a good idea to give their son a name that will help him to be a better ruler of people who are mostly Slavs. So we see that in the ruling family there's a deliberate change of identity or change of culture being carried out from the first Norse generations to a subsequent generation.
- [36:06]
Ian Glenn
It seems Sviatoslav fully embraces his Slavic identity.
- [36:11]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
So it's said that he worships the Slavic gods Perun, who's the God of the thunder, and Bolos, who's the God of the flocks. And he doesn't want to convert to Christianity, even though his mum converted to Christianity, because he doesn't want his followers to laugh at him.
- [36:28]
Ian Glenn
So complete is the generational shift in identity that Sviatoslav no longer draws his mercenaries from the Scandinavian homelands. The vast Eurasian steppes that make up his domain require a different kind of fighter.
- [36:43]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
They're not the Viking style warriors, but rather his most effective fighters are horse mounted archers whom he recruits from the Pechenegs.
- [36:53]
Ian Glenn
The fierce nomadic tribesmen that once harried Roose TR traders as they portage their vessels past the Dnieper rapids are now fighting on the side of the Rus. Sviatoslav is so enamored of the Pechenegs that he even models himself on them.
- [37:10]
Professor Elizabeth Rowe
Sviatoslav himself is famous for taking on a nomadic identity. And he has his hair in the traditional nomadic style of partly being shaven with a big ponytail on the back and he's got an earring. And he dresses in the nomadic style and lives on horseback and sleeps under the tent of the stars and so forth.
- [37:34]
Ian Glenn
Unfortunately, Sviatoslav's enthusiasm for the nomadic way of life does not end well, or so the primary chronicle tells us.
- [37:43]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Essentially, he's killed by this nomadic people who, according to one condition, to eat lice. That's their defining characteristic. They ambush him, they kill him, they make a cut out of his skull, they cover it with gold and then they drink from it. And who knows if this happened or not.
- [38:06]
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- [38:23]
Depop Advertiser
This episode is presented by Depop. We all have pieces in our closet that deserve a second life. That jacket you loved for a season, Someone out there is literally searching for it. And that's why I love Depop. It's a fashion resale app where your personal taste actually has value. Selling is quick, simple and genuinely worth it. You can list an item in just a few taps on Depop. Just snap a photo and their AI powered listings fill in the details. Plus make money easily. With no selling fees on Depop, no seller fees means what you earn is yours. Even selling one item is a win. So if you've been thinking about clearing out your closet, this is your sign. Download the Depop app and list your first item today.
- [39:09]
Ian Glenn
When it comes to intriguing stories that may or may not be true, one member of the Rurikid dynasty has attracted more than her fair share. Olga.
- [39:22]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
So Olga is one of those wonderful characters from Viking age history, or the history of Kevan, Rus, who really should be the heroine of her own historical novel or Hollywood film.
- [39:35]
Ian Glenn
Olga is the mother of Sviatoslav, in whose place she ruled Kyiv as regent between 945 and 957. She's also the wife of Igor, Rurik's son. But in 945, while demanding tribute from a Slavic tribe called the Drevlians, husband Igor is murdered.
- [39:59]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
And so Olga exacts the most incredible revenge. It's very typical of the heroines of Old Norse literature. You'd see something like this in the sagas in the myths and the legends.
- [40:12]
Ian Glenn
According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, a delegation of 20 Drevlians come to Kyiv to negotiate a new marriage for the widow Olga to one of their chieftains, a man called Marlborough. We heard in our opening scene how diplomatic missions in the Viking era can go disastrously wrong. And so it is now, on Olga's orders, the diplomats are herded into a pit and buried alive. Soon after, a second delegation of Drevlian nobles arrives. Tired and grubby after their journey, they accept Olga's invitation to freshen up in a bathhouse where they are locked in. Olga promptly torches the building, burning them all to death. Olga now travels to the Dreblian capital at the head of an army, unaware of the fate of his envoys. Marle believes she has come to accept his marriage proposal. A wedding feast takes place. As the celebration draws to an end, Olga's men unsheathe their weapons. Terror grips the Drevlians. But there is no escape. The Rus warriors cut them down mercilessly. Olga's thirst for vengeance is still not sated, and neither is her appetite for trickery. Her final act of revenge is worthy of Game of Thrones. The surviving Drevlians sue for peace, offering to pay whatever Olga wants. She agrees, though demands a bizarre tribute. She asks for just three house sparrows from each home in the Drevlian capital. The mystified Drevlians comply, relieved they don't have to hand over any silver. The cages of birds pile up, row after row of them, until a towering wall of wicker filled with flapping wings stands before the Rus camp. Now comes the final act of the drama. Olga instructs her men to tie a piece of silver sulfur to each sparrow. The birds are released. As Olga anticipated. The sparrows return to the buildings they came from. The sulfur kindles the dry twigs in their nests. Flames spread to the rafters. A great fire consumes the city.
- [43:00]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Who knows how true this is? You know, there are several centuries between when Olga lived and the records of what she's said to have done. But certainly she's the most formidable character. And she's one of those people I think I would love to have, you know, when they say like one of those historical dinner parties, but then I might really regret that choice if that's what she did.
- [43:25]
Ian Glenn
The story of Olga does not end there. Around 950, she travels to Constantinople and converts to Christianity. It's a momentous event. She is the first ruler of Kyiv to be baptized. Many of her loyal subjects will follow her into the new faith. Despite her reputation for cruelty, Olga is eventually canon. Probably in the 13th century, she becomes one of the patron saints of Ukraine, literally an icon of the Orthodox Church, most certainly a Viking to be reckoned with. Fascinating details about the Rus come to us from an Arabic diplomat called Ahmad IBN Fadlan. Ibn Fadlan was part of a diplomatic mission to the Bulgar capital, located on the Volga River. Along the way, he kept a journal of his experiences, including his impressions of the Rus he encountered with their perfect physiques. The Rus are as tall as palm trees, he writes. Their complexions are fair and ruddy, though from the neck down, the men are covered in dark green lines forming pictures and patterns. Tattoos. They wear a cloak over half their body, leaving their arms exposed. They are never parted from their weapons. There are women too, in the group, both wives and female slaves. These are traveling communities. One detail of the wives, Atari in particular, catches Ibn Fadlan's eye. They wear heavy rings around their necks made of both gold and silver. Ibn Fadlan makes inquiries through an interpreter and discovers that every time a rus merchant earns Dh10,000, he has one of these chunky necklaces made for his wife. Not all his impressions are favorable. He is shocked by the routine sexual assaults committed by the men against their female slaves and disgusted by their personal hygiene. He is appalled to see that the ruse, wash in a communal bowl, pass between them. The water grows progressively filthier as each man performs his morning ablutions, spitting and even blowing his nose into it.
- [45:57]
Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Over in Angel Anglo Saxon England, everyone says, oh, the Vikings are so clean. And then on the waterways down the Volga, Ibn Fadlan is absolutely horrified. He is absolutely revolting. The disgust pause off the page of his words.
- [46:19]
Ian Glenn
The most shocking event that Ibn Fadlan witnesses is the funeral of a Rus chieftain. A girl of about 16 is given drink and led to a Viking merchant ship that stands on the shore of the river Volga. It is a symbolic portal from one world to another. In a cabin on board, she is stabbed to death while her dead master, the chieftain, watches on. Then, once the living have disembarked from this ship of death, a pyre is lit beneath it by a naked man walking backwards around the boat. Orange flames lick the hastening darkness. Smoke rises high into the sky. It's a good omen, a sign that Odin is pleased. Ibn Fadlan's account makes for a difficult read, but it is undeniably an important historical record.
- [47:22]
Professor Ben Rafield
This is a unique account and a uniquely detailed account of these funerary rites. And this has played, you know, a huge role in also interpreting funerary customs as we understand them in Scandinavia and elsewhere in the Viking world.
- [47:40]
Ian Glenn
The legacy of the Rus Vikings lives on today in many ways, both small and large. For example, if you were to go shopping in present day Kyiv, you'd pay for your purchases in Harybnya. Ukrainian currency, the word Hryvnia means neck ring, a name that comes from the wearable currency worn by those wives of Rus merchants over a thousand years ago. But the legacy is most evident to this very day. In the name of the territory they once dominated, the land of the Rus, Russia. In the next episode, facing turmoil in Scandinavia, pioneering Norsemen strike out for pastures new. Shetland, Orkney and the Faroe Isles present fresh opportunities for settlement. But the true dissenters want a clean break. They will establish a brand new homeland, a Viking utopia. Iceland. That's next time. You can listen to the next two episodes of Real Vikings right now, without waiting and without ads by joining Noiser plus, click the banner at the top of the feed or head to noiser.com subscriptions to find out more.
- [49:31]
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- [50:01]
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- [50:44]
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