Category Archives: Polabians

Of Rugians and Rani

PublishedNovember 23, 2016 Post authortorino

The name of the Rani tribe has given people headaches for many years. The Greater Poland Chronicle derived it as follows:

“The Rani are called so for when fighting enemies they had the custom to yell ‘rani!’ ‘rani!’ that is, wound ’em!, wound ’em!”

GPC

Item Rani seu Rana dicuntur ex eo, quia semper in conflictu hostium vociferare solebant rani! rani! id est vulnera, vulnera.

Here’s Brueckner on rana (wound):

Widukind writes of the Ruani. In the Life of Otto we hear of the Rutheni (terra barbarorum, qui Rutheni dicuntur; also Ruthi sive Rutheni, de Rutzen; and Brutenis; also Ruthos sive Ruthenos de Rutzen; but Pomerania post se in Oceano Daciam habet et Rugiam insulam). Adam of Bremen spoke of “Rani or Runi… a might Slavic peoples” (Rani vel Runi… fortissima Slavorum gens). Some years later Helmold of Bosau wrote of “Rani called Rugiani” (Rani qui et Rugiani [or Rani sive Rugiani]). Wibald of Corvey said in 1149: “which [island] is called Ruyana by the Germans, Rana by the Slavs.” (pro recipienda regione, quae a Teutonicis Rujana, a Slavis Rana dicitur). Saxo Grammaticus has the name as Rugiani.

Now let’s look at something else: the etymology of the name and the origin of the tribe.

The predominant theories provide two postulates:

that the name Rani is derived from the Germanic Rugians, and

that the Slavs arrived on the island of Ruegen sometime in the second half of the 8th century.

As we can show, one of these is likely false.

The conversion of the Rugians to the name Rani is supposed to have happened approximately as follows:

Rugii > Rugiani > Rujani > Rani

As an aside, we are told that it was the Germans who called the island of Ruegen Rujana whereas the Slavs called it Rana (a Teutonicis Rujana, a Slavis Rana). If this is true then it seems that it was the German name that changed demonstrably whereas we see no proven changes in the Slavic name.

As another aside, the Germanic etymology of Ruegen and the Germanic tribe of the Rugii seems as uncertain as the Slavic one.

Be that as it may, the suggestion is that the Rugii lived on the island of Ruegen and then some or all of them headed out to conquer the Roman Empire, etc. In their place there appeared the Slavs who eventually settled on the island of Ruegen (in the 8th century or so), overtook the remnants of the Rugii along with their name and changed the latter to Rujani and then shortened it to Rani.

Can all this be true?

As regards the etymological derivation of Rani we can say only that it seems improbable but not impossible.

As regards, the arrival of the “Rani” Slavs on Ruegen in the 8th century this too is theoretically possible.

The problem arises when we ask what the name of the Slavic tribe which “took over” Ruegen before it did so? One might say what does that matter? And yet it does.

The reason for this is that the name Rani (as well as Granii) appears well before the 8th century in a famous passage in Getica (chapter 3) wherein Jordanes writes (in the 6th century although it is not clear whether this description does not refer to an even earlier time):

“Furthermore there are in the same neighborhood the Grannii, Augandzi, [Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi,]* Arochi and Ranii, over whom Roduulf was king not many years ago. But he despised his own kingdom and fled to the embrace of Theodoric, king of the Goths, finding there what he desired. All these nations surpassed the Germans in size and spirit, and fought with the cruelty of wild beasts.”

Getica

(Sunt quamquam et horum positura Grannii, Augandzi, [Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi,]* Arochi, Ranii, quibus non ante multos annos Roduulf rex fuit, qui contempto proprio regno ad Theodorici Gothorum regis gremio convolavit et, ut desiderabat, invenit. Hae itaque gentes, Germanis corpore et animo grandiores, pugnabant beluina saevitia.)

* we have followed the translators here; while the manuscript above shows zieunixitae and telrugi or, if you will, zieunixi taetel rugi, this seems to be a result of carrying over the “zi” – see here from the MGH (the above is P):

Putting aside the fact that Jordanes clearly distinguishes between these [Scandinavian?] nations and the Germans and distinguishes the Rugii from the Ranii (and the Granii whoever they were), we are confronted with the question:

How could there be Rani in the 6th century if the Slavs had not reached Ruegen until 200 years later?

As we said, one of the above statements is likely false. Either the name Rani is not derived from the name Rugii/Ruegen or the Slavic Rani arrived (or were) on Ruegen much earlier than the 8th century.

Of course, it IS possible to solve this conundrum and still preserve both propositions but doing so requires some rather precarious footwork… The Rugii may have ran (no pun intended) into some Slavs on the former’s excursions all over Europe during the Voelkerwanderung times. The name may have then transferred to the Slavs. The Slavs may have subsequently altered it to Rani and so forth…

Even so, how did these Rani then find their way to the island of Ruegen? Did they find out about it from the Germanic Rugii and headed for it afterwards arriving around the turn of the 9th century?

Or maybe the island was not even called Ruegen in the 6th century and only the Slavs brought the name? But if the Slavs were already called Rani, then why did the island ever become known as Ruegen?

(Bede in Book 5, chapter 9 of his Ecclesiastical History of England discusses Bishop Egbert (circa year 688) and his ambitions to convert some continental Europeans listing “the Frisians, the Rugini, the Danes, the Huns, the Old Saxons, and the Boructuari.” lt is unclear who these Rugini are at this point. They could be Germanic Rugini or they could be Slavs. Certainly, the Huns were not (at least originally) Germanic).

Something is not right here.

Of course, it is also true that rano refers to the “morning.” Back to Brueckner:

It is also noteworthy that the word świt means “dawn” whereas Svantovit/Sventovit or Świętowit was a Deity worshipped among the Rani on Arkona. The name of that Deity is usually translated as Strong Master or Strong Lord. But maybe it meant the Dawn Lord?

If so He would be celebrated in the morning, i.e., in the ранок or rano. Note that in most Slavic languages “morning” is jutro. Regarding the possibility of connections of that word with yester-day and the Goddess Eostre of Easter (as well more Bede) see here.

Post Scriptum

Incidentally, the Germanic Rugii is supposedly derived from the word for rye (rugr), i.e., rye people. They have been posited to have migrated from Norway to Ruegen at the beginning of the Christian Era. They may have from Rogaland in Southwest of the country (though whether that was a major rye growing area is a question). If so, then they made it just in time to be mentioned by Tacitus in Germania.

All of this is uncertain. For one thing, a similar word for rye may have existed in Slavic languages. For another, a similar name was born by the Slavic Reregi or (?) Rarogi. Rügen in German means as much as “reprimand” (therefrom, supposedly, the Polish rugować). Ruga itself also means “wrinkle” in some Latin languages.

Finally, we should mention that Rugila (in the form Ρούγας (Rougas), Ρουας (Rouas), and ΄Ρωίλας (Roilas)) was a Hun leader before Bleda and Attila (who were probably his nephews) in the 420s and 430s.

As for rana, curiously, Rana is also the name of a Norwegian municipality – rana – perhaps – meaning “fast” in Old Norwegian. There is also a mountain in Norway named Råna. On the other side of the world, we have a Nepali dynasty by the same name (now well remembered) and the name rana signifies too a “ruler” in Rajput. Also Rana is a rather popular name from Iran to India. Moving further afield, Ra’na was a village in Palestine (now Gal On) and is a town in Burkina Faso. Coming back towards Slavic lands, two villages bear the name in the Czech Republic.

Of course, there is also the matter of the spear from Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg (in Brandenburg so relatively close to Arkona) inscribed with, supposedly, the following text: ᚱᚨᚾᛃᚨ (ranja). Not rugia but ranja.

The Slavs of Flodoard of Reims

PublishedOctober 10, 2016 Post authortorino

Flodoard of Reims (circa 894 – 28 March 966) was a “canon, chronicler, and presumed archivist of the cathedral church of Reims in the West Frankish kingdom during the decades following the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire”. He was an author of several works including his Annals (Annales) as well as of the history of the Church of Reims and of three (surviving) poems.

The Annals of Flodoard of Reims (covering the years 919 – 966) contain few mentions of the Slavs. Nevertheless, there are some. Here are all those mentions. The translation is that of Steven Fanning and Bernard Bachrach (of Widukind fame).

As an added bonus, we note that Reims itself sits on the river Vesle. Its etymology supposedly goes back to Vesula (the good river) or Vidula (river in the woods) – seemingly of Gallic origin. For the Slavic derivation see here. Regarding the strangely Slavic-sounding names in northern France/portions of Belgium see here. On other mentions of the Vistula (Vidsla, Wyeslale, Wiesle, see here and here).

***

[6F] “Henry [king of Germany] was in the lands bordering on the Sarmatians [i.e., Slavs] when he, like Raoul [Rudolf, king of Francia], fell ill and was delayed for the entire summer. Meanwhile, a dispute arose between Gislebert [of Lotharingia] and his brother Ragenarius, as eel as conflict between Otho [son of count Ricinus/Ricwin of Verdun] and Boso [son of Richard the Justiciar]. The result was killings, fires and raids by both sides. The Northmen made a peace with the Franks by oaths, due to the efforts of Count Hugh [the Great], Count Heribert [of Vermandois], and Archbishop Seulfus because King Raoul was absent. However, with the king’s consent, more lands were conceded to the Northmen in a pact of peace, that is, Maine and the Bessin.”

[32D] “King Otto laid siege to Prague*, the great urbs of the Wends. He received their king in subjection and made the Magyars submit to him.”

* Only Flodoard mentions the siege of Prague here. Widukind speaks (at 3.8) of the siege of Nimburg/Nymburk, east of Prague.

[37C] “A very large force of Magyars attacked Bavaria, seeking to invade Francia. King Otto, along with Boleslav, the princeps of the Sarmatians,* and Conrad [of Lotharingia], who was now reconciled to the king, fought against them. He cut down the Magyars, almost annihilating them. However, Conrad, who had fought very bravely that day and had inspired the king to victory, was killed.**”

* Boleslav I (926-967), the duke, or king of Bohemia.

** the reference here is to the Battle of Lechfeld on August 10, 955.

[37D] “After this war, King Otto fought against two kings of the Sarmatians and with the support of King Boleslav,* who had submitted to him shortly before, he gained the victory.”

* Flodoard uses the title “rex“; same form used in Widukind who speaks of Boleslav as king of the Bohemians (at 3.8, 3.69).

[40B] “King Otto made war against the Sarmatians…”

Crantz’s Wends

PublishedSeptember 5, 2016 Post authortorino

Crantz (or Creontius/Craentius) was an eighth century Bavarian dignitary – chancellor to the Bavarian Duke Tassilo III (circa 736 – circa 796).

Tassilo (the last of the dynasty of Agolfings) was at various times in rebellion against Charlemagne and, as with all who rebelled against that tyrant, he did not profit by his resistance. In the end he was outmaneuvered, forced to renounce his claims on Bavaria and was eventually tonsured (along with his son) and he and his family were forced to live out their lives as monks and nuns in the monastery at Lorsch and, as regards the daughters (as per the Chesne fragment), at Chelles and Laon.

Bavaria

So much for Tassilo.

Crantz does not appear much in literature but he is generally accepted as a genuine 8th century source. References to Crantz’s now lost works are made in manuscripts written much later by Johann Georg Turmair or Thurmayr aka “Johannes Aventinus” or just Aventinus of Bavaria (1477 – 1534). Aventinus is known as the father of Bavarian historiography and he mentions fragments that are generally accepted to have originated with Crantz.

The two works of note are Aventinus’:

Annales ducum Bavariae (the “Annals“), and
Baierische Chronik (the “Chronicle“).

The Annals were written first in Latin. The Chronicle is basically a German language version of the Annals. Both were republished in the 19th century, most notably by Riezler (1882) as part of a wider set of Aventinus’ works. They came to the attention of King when he was putting together an English translation of various sources regarding Charlemagne.

What interest us in particular are the mentions of Slavs – the Carantanians – in excerpts from the Annals and the Chronicle that attributed to Crantz. We present these here in King’s English translation, along with the print versions of the same passages and the original manuscript pages (Clm 283 Annales; Cgm 1562 Chronik) .

We start with the print versions of the Annals:

And of the Chronicle:

Year 771
Annals

“…There succeeded Hadrian I, who supported the imperial regions against the Lombards. The Lombards and stirred up (?) the Germans against the king of the Lombards.”

“The Lombards were were defeated by the Venetians [King notes ‘perhaps ‘by the Wends’ and notes that what follows (two words it seems) is ‘illegible’ ‘].”

Year 772
Annals

“Theodo, son of Tassilo, was taken to Italy, to Desiderius, his grandfather, and thence to Rome; he was baptized (?) at Whitsuntide.”

“A people extremely ferocious in war at this time were the Slavs or Wends, to use the language of common speech, or, to use their own, the Charini or Chariones [Carantanians], who lived on the rivers Drava and Mura [‘ad Dravus Nuciamque (?)’]. Into Italy with an immense multitude…”

[and the source breaks off]

[the parallel with the Charini of Pliny’s or, to the extent they were different, with the Germanic Harii is interesting]

Year 772
Chronicle

“And the above-named princes, duke Tassilo, his wife, the duchess Liutperga, and their son, duke Dieth or Theodo, out of special devotion for the salvation of their souls, dispatched to Rome with truly great offerings a splendid embassy: bishop Alim of Saeben, count Maegel, count Machelm and many other magnates, spiritual and temporal, brave and eminent men. King Charles would not let them all pass;”

“he allowed only the above-named Alim of Saeben or Brizen and abbot Atto of Mondsee to proceed to Rome and made all the other people go home again — But duke Tassilo was displeased by this affair; he felt insulted that his cousin, king Charles, had refused to let his people through and was seized by a great rancor towards him. King Charles, for his part, was no less anxious about his cousin, duke Tassilo, who, to him, was aiming to be just too powerful; Tassilo was certainly at one with the Saxons, Wends and Huns, all of whom had long been sworn and mortal enemies of king Charles and all the kings in Francia.”

“A fierce war was on the point of breaking out. Then pope Hadrian intervened became a mediator and sent two bishops from Rome to Bavaria, to duke Tassilo, who made peace between the duke and the king. Duke Tassilo came to his cousin, king Charles, at Worms [781] and gave him great gifts of goods and money; in return the king gave him even more, receiving duke Tassilo right honourably and treating him with great propriety and respect. They concluded an eternal peace with each other. And so duke Tassilo went back to Bavaria and again sent count Machelm, a very elderly lord, with many companions, on pilgrimage to Rome. All died there, of fever.”

Post Scriptum

Note that the Annals, the Chronicle and other writings by Aventinus also mention Wends/Slavs elsewhere but those passages are not attributable to Crantz so we do not generally present them here. Nevertheless, since Chapter 78 of the Chronicle does address Tassilo’s (Thessel’s) dealings with the Carantanian Slavs, we thought we should include those passage here. We leave to you to translate the terrible things that the Carantanian Slav pagans did to deserve their fate according to the author. The like source here is the Conversion of the Carantanians:

All the Slavs of Adam of Bremen

PublishedAugust 8, 2016 Post authortorino

Here are the complete Slavs of Adam of Bremen.

Once again, from a version by Francis J. Tschan translated in 1959, as edited in 2002 by Timothy Reuter. For a manuscript see the GKS 2296 4° manuscript (put together c 1200 – c 1225) which is now at Det Kongelige Bibliotek and which you can look at the following address: http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/378/dan

The Latin version is at:

http://hbar.phys.msu.su/gorm/chrons/bremen.htm

We have not added all the scholia (notes int he margins) yet but we may do so in the future.

Book I

1. “…Rightly surveyed, Saxony appears to be triangular in shape, with the first leg of the triangle reaching southward as far as the River Rhine. The second leg, which begins in the coastal region of Hadeln, extends a great distance along the Elbe eastward to the Salle River. At this point is a third angle. From angle to angle it is an eight-day journey, except for the part of Saxony across the Elbe of which the upper portion is inhabited by the Sorbs and the lower by the Nordalbingians. Saxony is noted for its men, arms, and crops…”

2. “…The principal rivers of Saxony are the Elbe [Albis], the Saale [Sala], and the Wisera [Wisura], which is now called the Weichsel [Wissula vel Wirraha]. This river, like the Saale [Sala], has its source in the wooded highlands of Thuringia. After coursing thence through mid-Saxony it comes to an end in the vicinity of the Frisians. But the largest river, reported even by Roman authorities is the Albia, now called the Elbe. With its source they say, beyond Bohemia, early in its course it separates the Slavs from the Saxons. Near Magdeburg it receives the Saale River…”

3. “It may be asked what mortals first inhabited Saxony and from what region this folk first came forth… If then, the Roman writers are to be believed, the Suevi were the first to live along the Elbe and in the rest of Germania, and their neighbors were those called Druids, Bardi, Sicambri, Huns, Vandals, Sarmatians, Lombards, Heruli, Dacians, Marcomanni, Goths, Northmen, and Slavs. On account of the barrenness of their native soil and of domestic strife or, as it is said, because of the need of reducing their numbers, these peoples left their homes and together overran all Europes as well as Africa. Gregory of Tours and Orosius give this account of the Saxons in antiquity…”

5. “‘[quoting Einhard] South of the Saxons lived the Franks and that part of the Thuringians which had not been touched by the preceding storm of war, with the channel of the River Unstrut between them. On the north there were the Northmen, a very ferocious folk. On the east lived the Abodrites and on the west the Frisians. These peoples had constantly to secure their borderlands either by treaties or by wars against the Saxons who, though peaceful at home and benignly mindful of the welfare of their tribesmen, were excessively restless and troublesome to the settlements of their neighbors.'”

7. “‘[about the Saxons] For they worshipped those who, by nature, were not gods. Among them they especially venerated Mercury, whom they were won’t on certain days to propitiate, even with human sacrifices. They deemed it incompatible with the greatness and dignity of heavenly beings either to confine their gods in temples or to mold them in any likeness of the human form. They consecrated groves and coppices and called by the names of the gods that mysterious something which alone they contemplated with reverence. To the flight of birds and the lots they paid the utmost attention. The rite of casting lots was simple. A twig was cut from a fruitbearing tree and divided into slips, which they distinguished by certain marks and spread casually and at random over a white cloth. Then if the inquiry was public, the priest of the people, if private, the father of there family in person, after praying to the gods with wyes turned toward heaven, picked up three slips, one at a time, and interpreted the ones he had taken up acccouring to the marks which had previously been impressed on them. If the answer was negative, no more inquiry about the same matter was made on that day; if the answer was favorable, further confirmation of the results was required.'”

8. “‘To inquire of the cries and flight of birds was characteristic of this folk; also to make trial of the presentiments and movements of horses and to observe their neighing and snorting. On the other auspices was more reliance placed, not merely by the common people but also by their betters… [Adam then describes auguries by combat with a captured tribesman from an (or potential) enemy tribe] For they were, like nearly all the inhabitants of Germania, both fierce by nature and given to the worship of demons… They worshipped, too, a stock of wood, of no small size, set up in the open. In naive language, it was called Irminsul, which in Latin means universal column, as if it sustained everything.’ These excerpts about the advent, the customs, and the superstitions of the Saxons (which superstitions the Slavs and the Swedes still appear to observe in their pagan rites) we have taken from the writings of Einhard.”

13. … [Adam describes the Bremen diocese] thence on the eastern bank f this same river [Weser] the highway, called the Hesseweg, which divides Sturmgau from Largau, the Schipse-Graben, the Alpe, the Aue, the Chaldowa, and again the Weser; from its western bank the highway called Folwech which divides Derve from Largau, as far as the Hunte River, thence that river and the Haarenbach, the woodland which the inhabitants of the place call the Wildloch, the Vehne, the Hochmoor, the Barkenbusch, the Endiriad marsh dividing Emsgau from Ostergau, the Dobbe-Meer, the Sandwater-See, and again the sea…

15. “…Since at the time the Slavic tribes also [i.e., along with the Saxons] were subjected to the rule of the Franks, Charles [i.e., Charlemagne] is said to have committed Hamburg, the city of the Nordalbingians, to the governance of a certain saintly man, Heridag, and to have designated him as bishop of the place after he had built a church there. On account of the barbarian raids Charles also gave him the monastery Rodnach in Gaul at which to stay for their duration. This same church at Hamburg he designed to establish as the metropolitan see for all the Slavic and Danish peoples..”

16. “And because we have mentioned the Danes once, it seems worthy to mention that the most victorious emperor Charles, who had conquered all the kingdoms of Europe, is reported to have undertaken last of all a war with the Danes. Now, the Danes and the other peoples who live beyond Denmark are all called Northmen by the historians of the Franks. After their king, Gotafrid, had subjected the Frisians and likewise the Nordalbingians, the Abodrites, and other Slavic peoples to tribute, the threatened even Charles with war. This strife very seriously retarded the emperor’s purpose with respect to Hamburg…”

18. “The emperor and his great nobles then felicitated Saint Ansgar on the deliverance of the heathen and rendered great thanks to Christ. In a general council of clerics which he held, the pious Caesar, desirous of fulfilling his parent’s will, appointed Hamburg, the city of the Transalbingians, as the metropolitan see for all the barbarous nations of the Danes, the Swedes, and likewise the Slavs and the other peoples living round about. And he had Ansgar consecrated as first archbishop of this see. This was done in the year of our Lord 832, which was the 18th of the emperor Louis…”

29. “…By virtue of his apostolic authority, therefore, he decreed that the bishopric of Bremen be joined with that of Hamburg and that the two be henceforth considered as one. The documents concerning this action are to this day carefully preserved in the church at Bremen. In them is also the added statement that this same Pope Nicholas constituted the same Ansgar, as well as his successors, legates and vicars of the Apostolic See for all the Swedish, Danish, and Slavic peoples…” [Adam says this happened in 858]

40. “In the twelfth year of the lord Rimbert, the great Caesar, Louis the Pious died. He had so far prevailed over the Bohemians, Sorbs, Susi, and other Slavic peoples that he made them tributary. The Northmen, checked by treaties and wards, he also restrained to the extent that, although they divested all Francia, they did not in the least harm his kingdom. However, after the emperor’s death, wild barbarism ruled without restraint. And because the Danes and Northmen had been subjected to the pastoral care of the Chursch at Hamburg, I cannot pass over the enormities which the Lord at that time permitted them to perpetrate , and how widely pagans established their power over the Christians…”

54. “…In those days Saxony was overwhelmed by a most frightful persecution, as from one direction the Danes and Slavs, from the other the Bohemians and Hungarians wrought havoc with the churches. At that time the diocese of Hamburg was laid waste by an attack of the Slavs, and that of Bremen by an attack of the Hungarians…” [Annals of Corvey years 906 & 915]

57. “In his days the Hungarians devastated not only our Saxony and the other provinces on this side of the Rhine but also Lotharingia and Francia across the Rhine. The Danes too, with the Slavs as allies, plundering first of all the Transalbingian Saxons and then ravaging the country this side of the Elbe, made Saxony tremble in great terror. Over the Danes there ruled at that time Harthacanute Gorm, a savage worm, I say, and not moderately hostile to the Christian people. He set about complteltey to destroy Christianity in Denmark, driving the priests of God from its bounds and also torturing many of them to death.”

58. “But then King Henry, who feared God even from his boyhood and placed all trust in His mercy, triumphed over the Hungarians in many and mighty battles. Likewise he struck down the Bohemians and the Sorbs, who had been subdued by other kings, and the other Slavic peoples, with such force in one great encounter [at Lenzen in 929] that the rest – and just a few were left – of their own accord promised the king that they would pay tribute, and God that they would be Christians.”

62. “…In this haven [Bjorko] the most secure in the maritime regions of Sweden, all the ships of the Danes and Northmen, as well as those of the Slavs and Sembi [Sembians of Prussia] and the other Scythian people, are won’t to meet at stated times for the diverse necessities of trade.”

Book II

13. “When in those days Otto the Great had subjugated the Slavic peoples and bound them to the Christian faith, he built on the banks of the Elbe River the renowned city of Magdeburg and designating it as the metropolitan see for the Slavs, had Adalbert, a man of the greatest sanctity, consecrated as its archbishop. This man was the first prelate to be consecrated in Magdeburg, and he administered his episcopal office with untiring energy for twelve years. By his preaching he converted many of the Slavic peoples. His consecration took place in the thirty-fifth year of the emperor and of our archbishop, and one hundred and thirty-seven years had passed since the consecration of Saint Ansgar.”

14. For this part see here.

15. “And because occasion has presented itself here. it seems proper to set forth what peoples across the Elbe belong to the diocese of Hamburg. The diocese is bounded on the west by the British Ocean; on the south by the Elbe River; on the east by the Peene River, which flows into the Barbarian Sea; on the north by the Eider River, which divides the Danes from the Saxons. There are three Transalibingian Saxon peoples. The first, along the ocean, are the Ditmarshians and their mother church is at Meldorf. The secondary the Holzatians [?], named from the woods near which they dwell. The Stoer River flows through their midst. Their church is at Schenefeld. The third and best-known are called Sturmarians because they are a folk frequently stirred up by dissension. Among them the metropolis of Hamburg lifts up its head, at one time mighty in mn and arms. happy in its fields and crops; but now, suffering vengeance for its sins, turned into a wilderness. Although this metropolis has lost its urban attraction, it still retains its strength, consoled for the misfortune of its widowhood by the progress of its sons, whom it sees daily enlarging its mission throughout the length and breadth of the north. They seem to justify one in crying out with much joy: ‘I have declared and I have spoken; they are multiplied above number.”

For the remaining portion of this section see here.

16. “Of the nature of this body of water [the Eastern Sea] Einhard made brief mention in his Gesta of Charles when he wrote of the Slavic war. ‘There is a gulf,’ he says, ‘that stretches from the Western Sea toward the east, of unknown length, but nowhere more than a hundred miles in breadth, and in many places much narrower. Many nations I’ve along the shores of this sea. The Danes and the Swedes, whom we call Northmen, hold both its northern shore and all the islands off it. The Slavs and various other nations dwell along the eastern shore. Among them by far the most important are the Wilzi, against whom the king at that time waged war. He so broke and subdued them in a single campaign, which he himself conducted, that they no longer thought it wise to refuse to obey his commands.'”

17. For this section see here.

18. For the first part of this section see here and for the second part of the section dealing with Slavic religion see here.

19. “Beyond the Leutici, who are also called Wilzi, one comes to the Oder River, the largest stream in the Slavic region. At its mouth, where it feeds the Scythian marshes, Jumne, a most noble city, affords, a very widely known trading center for the barbarians and Greeks who live round about. Because great and scarcely credible things are said in praise of this city, I think it of interest to introduce a few facts that are worth relating. It is truly the largest of all the cities in Europe, and there live in it Slavs and many other peoples, Greeks and barbarians. For even alien Saxons also have the right to reside there on equal terms with others, provided only that while they sojourn there they do not openly profess Christianity. In fact, all its inhabitants still blunder about in pagan rites. Otherwise, so far as morals and hospitality are concerned, a more honorable or kindlier folk cannot be found. Rich in the wares of all the northern nations, that city lacks nothing that is either pleasing or rare. There is Olla Vulcani, which the inhabitants call Greek fire and of which Solinus also makes mention. There Neptune may be observed in a threefold mood: that island is washed by the waters of three straits, one of which they say is of avery green appearance; another, rather whitish; the third rages furiously in perpetual tempests.”

For the remainder of this section see here.

20. For this section see here.

21. “…On account of the merits of his virtue and his mastery of learning the saintly Adaldag was held in such esteem and in such intimacy by these three [Otto I, Otto II and Otto III] equally mighty and most just emperors that he was scarcely, or rarely, ever separated from their sides… This is evident from the emperors’ edicts which were drawn up on the archbishop’s motion. In them it is also to be noted that the third Otto issued edicts while he stayed at Wildeshausen. At that same time Hermann, the duke of the Saxons, died and had heir his son Benno, who is also remembered for having been a good and valiant man, except that he departed from his father’s ways by burdening thje people with exactions. At Magdeburg, too, there followed in the see, on Archbishop Adalbert’s death, Gisiler. He too was a holy man who by his learning and virtues enlightened the lately converted Winuli peoples.”

24. “For Oldenburg the archbishop first of all consecrated, as we have said, Egward, or Evagrius, then Wago, thereafter Esico, in whose times the Slavs remained Christian. And so Hamburg also was at peace. Churches were erected everywhere in Slavia. There were also very many monasteries built in which men and women served God. Witness to this is the king of the Danes, Svein, who still lives. When he told how Slavia was divided into eighteen districts, he assured us that all but three had been converted to the Christian faith, adding also that their princes at that time were Mistislav, Naccon, and Sederich. He said, ‘There was continuous peace under them, and the Slavs served paying tribute.'”

25. “In the last days of Archbshop Adaldag our cause among the barbarians was broken down, Christianity in Denmark was thrown into confusion, and, envying the fair beginnings of God’s religion, a wicked man tried to oversaw with cockle. For then Svein Otto, the son of the great Harold, king of the Danes, set on foot many plots against his father, taking counsel also with those whom his father had against their will complied to embrace Christaiinty, to see how he might deprive him of the throne now that he was advanced in years and less strong. OF a sudden, therefore, the Danes entered into a conspiracy to renounce Christianity, to make Svein king, to declare war against Harold. As the latter had from the beginning of his reign placed all his trust in God, he then also most particularly commended to Christ the issue of the event and, although he abhorred war, decided to defend himself by arms. And like another Davic, moruinig for his son Absalom, grieving rather over his sin than over his own peril, he went forth to war. In that deplorable and worse than civil war the party of Harold was vanquished. Wounded, Harold fled from the conflict, boarded shop, and escaped to the city of the Slavs which is called Jumne.”

26. “Kindly received by the Slavs, contrary to his expectations, because they were pagans, he failed from the wound after some days and passed away in the confession of Christ. His body was brought back to his fatherland by the army and entombed in the city of Roeskilde in the church which he himself had first constructed in honor of the Holy Trinity… These things took place, we learned, in the days of Archbishop Adaldag*; still we could not find out all of the king’s [Harold’s] virtues. There are, however, some who affirm that the grace of healing worked through him both then, while he still lived, and at his sepulcher after his death, and other things equally marvelous; for example, the blind were often given sight and many other wonders took place. Very certain is it, however, that in consideration of the man’s repute our people as well sat he Transalbingians and the Frisians still strive to observe the laws and customs he gave them…”

* [according to Adam who passed away in 988]

27. “…While there was still peace in Slavia, he frequently [the archbishop] visited the Transalbingian peoples and cherished their mother at Hamburg with fatherly love. Like his predecessors, he prosecuted his mission to the heather with great zeal even though he was hindered by evil days. At that time, wile King Svein was preparing a fierce persecution of the Christians in Denmark, the archbishop is said through suppliant legates and by frequent gifts to have endeavored to mollify the king’s ferocious spirit in regard to the Christians. But the king rejected these overtures and began to rage in his cruelty and perfidy. Divine vengeance pursued hjim in his rebellion against God for, when he undertook a war against the Slavs, he was twice captured and led off into Slavia and as manny times ransomed by the Danes, for an immense amount of gold. Yet he still would not return to God. Whom he had first offended in the death of his father and then angered by the murder of the faithful. ‘And the Lord was exceedingly angry… and He delivered’ him into the hands of his enemies that he might learn not to blaspheme.”

29. “At that time a fleet of the pirates whom our people call Ascomanni landed in Saxony and devastated all the coastland of Frisia and Hadeln. And, as they went up the mouth of the Elbe River they fell upon the province. Then the chief men of the Saxons met and, although their forces were small, engaged the barbarians, who had left their ships, at Stade, which is a convenient port and stronghold on the Elbe. Mighty and memorable, but exceedingly unhappy, was that battle in which, though it was manfully contested on both sides, our men finally proved too few. The victorious Swedes and Danes completely destroyed the whole Saxon troop…”

30. “Soon afterward Duke Benno and Margrave Siegfried came up with an army and took vengeance for that disaster. And those very pirates who, we said, had landed at Stade were destroyed by them. The other party of Ascomanni, who had come by way of the Weser River, devastated the Hadeln country as far as Lesum…”

At 33: Schol. 24. “Eric, the king of the Swedes, entered into an alliance with Boleslav, the most powerful king of the Poles. Boleslave gave his daughter or sister in marriage to Eric. Because of this league the Danes were jointly attacked by the Slavs and the Swedes. In alliance with the third Otto the most Christian king Boleslav subjected all Slavia and Russia together with the Prussians, at whose hands Saint Adalbert had suffered martyrdom. Boleslav at this time translated his [Adalbert’s] remains into Poland.”

37. “After the long-wished-for death of Eric, Svein returned rom exile and regained the kingdom of hjis fathers in the fourteenth year of his deposition and wanderings. And he married Eric’s widow, the mother of Olaf, and she bore him Canute. But this martial relationship was of no advantage to him, for God was angry with him. Olaf, the king of the Swedes. was a very good Christian and took a wife from among the Abodrites, a Slavic maiden, named Estrith. Of her were born a son, James, and a daughter, Ingegerd, whom the saintly king Yaroslav of Russia married…”

38. “…Some relate that Olaf [of Norway, son of Tryggve] had been a Christian, some that he had forsaken Christianity; all, however, affirm that he was willed in divination, was an observer of the lots, and had placed all his hope in the prognostication of birds. Wherefore, also, did he receive a byname, so that he was called Craccaben. In fact, as they say, he was also given to the practice of the magic art and supported as his household companions all the magicians, with whom that land was overrun, and, deceived by their error, perished.”

40. “In the meantime the thousandth year since the incarnation of our Lord was happily completed and this was the archbishop’s twelfth year. The following year the most valiant emperor Otoo, who had already conquered the Danes, the Slavs, likewise also the Franks and Italians, succumbed, overtaken by an untimely death, after he had thrice entered Rome as victor. After his death the kingdom remained in confusion. Then, indeed, the Slavs, more than fairly oppressed by their Christian rulers, at length threw off the yoke of servitude and had to take up arms ion defense of their freedom. Mistivoi and Mizzidrag were the chiefs of the Winuli under whose leadership the rebellion flared up. Under these leaders the rebel Slavs wasted first the whole of Nordalbingia with fire and sword; then, going through the rest of Slavia, they set fire to all the churches and tore them down to the ground. They also murdered the priests and th either ministers of the churches with diverse tortures and left not a vestige of Christianity beyond the Elbe.”

41. “At Hamburg, then and later, many clerics and citizens were led off into captivity, and even more were put to death out of hatred for Christianity. The long-to-be-remmbered king of the Danes who held in memory all the deeds of the barbarians as if they had been written down told us how Oldenburg [Stargard] had been a city heavily populated with Christians. ‘There,’ he said, ‘sixty priests – the rest had been slaughtered like cattle – were kept for mockery. The oldest of these, the provost of the place, and our kinsman, was named Oddar. Now, he and others were martyred in this manner: after the skin of their heads had been cut with an iron in the form of a cross, the brain of each was laid bare; with hands tied behind their backs, the confessors of For were then dragged through one Slavic town after another, harried either with blows of in some other manner, until they died. After having been thus made ‘a spectacle… to angels and to men,’ they breathed forth their victorious spirits in the middle of the course. Many deeds of this kind, which for lack of written records are now regarded as fables, are remembered as having been done at this time in the several provinces of the Slavs. When I questioned the king further about them, he said: ‘Stop, son. We have so many martyrs in Denmark and Slavia that they can hardly be comprehended in a book…'”

42. “And so all the Slavs who dwell between the Elbe and the Oder and who had practiced the Christian religion for seventy years and more, during all the time of the Ottos, cut themselves off from the body of Christ and of the Church with which they had before been joined. Oh, truly the judgments of God over men are hidden: ‘Therefore He hath mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardeneth.’ Marveling at His omnipotence, we see those who were the first to believe fall back into paganism; those, however, who seemed to be the very last, converted to Christ. But He, the ‘just judge, strong and patient’, who of old wiped out in the sight of Israel the seven tribes of Canaan, and kept only the strangers, by whom the transgressors might be punished – He, I say, willed now to harden a small part of the heathen through whom He might confound our faithlessness.”

43. “These things were done in the last days of the elder Lievizo, under Duke Bernhard, the son of Benno, who grievously oppressed the Slavic peoples. At that time also the controversy of Bishop Bernar of Verden over Ramelsloh was ended in the presence of Pope Sergius.”

44. “…And report has it that from the death of Archbishop Adaldag to our own age all the region of Jutland was divided into two dioceses; the third, at Aarhus, passed out of existence. For Slavia the archbishop consecrated Folcward, after that Reginbert; the former of whom, when driven from Slavia, was sent by the archbishop to Sweden and Norway, and when he had won many to the Lord he returned full of joy. After that, with everything set in good order, the blessed archimandrite Lievizo died, at the same time as the bishop of Verden, in the year of our Lord 1013…”

46. “…For Duke Bernhard, forgetful both of his grandfather’s humility and of his father’s piety, in the first place cruelly oppressed by his avarice the Winuli nation and drove it, as a last resort, to paganism. Then, in his pride unmindful of favors, he moved all Saxony to rebel with him against Caesar. Rising, finally, against Christ, he did not hesitate to attack the churches of his fatherland, and especially ours, which at the time was obviously richer than the others and farther from the emperor’s reach… By taking counsel with our bishop [Archbishop Unwan], too, the rebellious prince was at length prevailed upon to make submission as a suppliant to the Caesar Henry at Hausberge.”

47. “Soon, also through the favor of Unwan, he subjected the Slavs to tribute and returned peace to the Nordalbingians and to their mother at Hamburg. To restore the latter, the venerable metropolitan is said to have built a new city and church after the destruction wrought by the Slavs. At the same time he selected three brethren from each of his communities of men so that twelve might live at Hamburg in canonical association and convert the people from the error of idolatry. On Reginbert’s death he consecrated for Slavia Bernhard, a prudent mann whom he selected from the brethren of the Church of Hamburg, and who brought forth much fruit in preaching among the Slavic people…”

51. “Canute made war on Britain for three years. Aethelred, the king of the English, died while he was being besieged in London, losing his life at the same time as his kingdom. And this by a just judgment of For; for he had befouled the scepter with blood for thirty-eight years after his brother died a martyr. Thus he expiated the murder of his brother; he left a child, a son named Edward whom his wife Imma had borne him. Aethelred’s brother, Edmund, a warlike man, was put out of the way by poisoning to favor the victor; his sons were condemned to exile in Russia.”

54. “In the twelfth year of Archbishop Unwan Emperor Henry, eminent for his justice and sanctity, departed to the heavenly realm after having subjected to his sway the Saxons, Italians, and Burgundians. The most valiant Caesar, Conrad, succeeded to his scepter and by his great might soon subdued the Poles and their king Mising, and he made their allies, the Bohemians and other Slavic peoples, tributary…”

58. “Since at that time there was a firm peace between the Slavs and the Transalbingians, Archbishop Unwan rebuilt the metropolis of Hamburg and, bringing together the clerics who had been dispersed, assembled there a great number both of citizens and canons. For this reason he frequently visited there with Duke Berhnard, often living in Hamburg half the year, and he invited the most glorious ing Canute to a conference with the Slavic leaders Udo and Sederich. In such wise Archbishop Unwan, distinguished at home and abroad, is said to have carried out his mission among the heathen. Now there remains to be told what we have ascertained from fleeting reports about the martyrdom of King Olaf.”

59. “…Thus Olaf, king and, as we believe, martyr, came to such an end. His body was entombed with becoming honor in the great city of his realm, Trondhjem [Trondheim]. There even today the Lord by the numerous miracles and cures done through him deigns to declare what merit is his in heaven who us this glorified on earth. The feast of his passion, observed on the fourth Kalends of August, is worthily recalled with eternal veneration on the part of all the peoples of the Northern Ocean, the Norwegians, Swedes, Goths, Sembi, Danes, and Slavs.”

64. “The archbishop frequently visited the metropolis of Hamburg. Because of the valor of Canute, the king, and of Bernhard, the duke, there was at that time a firm peace beyond the Elbe, since Caesar also had reduced the Winuli by war. Their chiefs, Gneus and Anadrag were pagans; the third, Udo, the son of Mistivoi, was a bad Christian. On this account and also because of his cruelty, he was murdered by a certain Saxon deserter. He had a son, Gottschalk, who at this very time was being instructed in the learned disciplines in the duke’s monastery at Lueneburg. Of this abbey Gottschalk, the bishop of the Goths, then had charge. But when he learned of his father’s death, the prince Gottschalk, in his wrath and indignation, rejected the faith along with his letters, seized his arms, and, passing over the river, joined the enemies of God, the Winuli. With their help he attacked the Christians and, it is said, struck down many thousands of Saxons out of revenge for his father. At last Duke Berhhard captured him and held him in custody as if he were a robber captain. But because he respected him as a man of great bravery, the duke made an alliance with him and let him go. He went to King Canute and, proceeding with him to England, stayed there a long time.”

68. “While he left these monuments of his activity in Bremen, he forthwith addressed himself with all the love of his heart to the building up of the church at Hamburg. There, indeed, after the Slavic cataclysm of which we have given an account above, Archbishop Unwan and along with him Duke Bernhard had built a stately fortress from the runs of the old city and erected a church and dwelling places, all of wood. Archbishop Alebrand, however, thought a somewhat stronger defense against the frequent incursions of enemies was necessary for an unprotected place, and first of all rebuilt of squared stone the church that had been erected in honor of the Mother of God. Then he constructed for himself another stone house, strongly fortified with towers and battlements. In emulation of this work the duke was roused to provide lodging for his men within the same fortified area. In a word, when the city had thus been rebuilt, the basilica was flanked on one side by the bishop’s residence, on the other by the duke’s palace. The noble archbishop also planned to have the metropolis of Hamburg girded with a wall and fortify with towers, had his swift death not interfered with his desires.”

69. “Across the Elbe and throughout the realm there was a firm peace at that time. The princes of the Slavs, Anadrag and Gneus and Ratibor, came peacefully to Hanburg and rendered military service to the duke and prelate. But hone as now the duke an bishop worked at cross purposes among the Winuli people; the duke, indeed, striving to increase the tribute; the archbishop, to spread Christianity. It is clear to me that because of the efforts of the priests of the Christian religion would long ago have become strong there if the avarice of the princes had not hindered the conversion of the folk.”

70. “The archbishop was also, in the manner of his predecessors, solicitous about the mission among the heathen with which he had been entrusted, and he consecrated as coadjutors in the preaching bishops Rudolf, one of his chaplains, for Schleswig; Abhelin for Slavia; Wal, of the chapter at Bremen, for RIbe; while the others, who were mentioned above, still lived and weren’t idle in the vineyard of God.”

74. “…At the same time the piratical Ascomanni are said to have entered the mouth of the Weser and gone as far as Lesum, unexpectedly ravaging everything. As they were returning to their ships, then, they were attacked at Aumund, and there most of them are said to have been cut down…”

75. “…Now King Magnus was beloved by the Danes for his justice and valor but dreaded by the Slavs who attacked Denmark after Canute’s death. Ratibor, the Slavic chief, was slain by the Danes. This Ratibor was a Christian and a man of great influence among the barbarians. He had eight sons, Slavic princes, everyone of whom the Danes killed when they sought vengeance for their father. To avenge Ratibor‘s death the Winuli at that time also came with all their forces as far as Ribe, ravaging as they pressed forward. But King Magnus, returning from Norway, happened just then to land at Haddeby. He at once collected the armed strength of the Danes from all sides and came upon the pagans in the heath near Haddeby as they were leaving Denmark. Fifteen thousand are said to have been slain there, and the Christians enjoyed peace and happiness all the time Magnus lived. At that same time, after the death of King Canute and of his sons, Gottschalk also returned from England and made raids into Slavia, fighting all and striking great terror into the hearts of the barbarians. Of his valor and the influence he had over the barbarians we shall speak presently.”

Book III

6. “The expeditions which the archbishop made with Caesar into Hungary, Slavia, Italy, and Flanders were indeed many…”

9. “…At Goseck on the Saale River there is an eight abbey, which was founded by the archbishop’s relatives.”

15. “…When he came into Sweden, he was afforded so eager a reception on the part of everyone that he won all the people of Vaermland to Christ and is said also to shave worked many miracles among the folks…”

16. “In Norway great events also took place at that time; King Harold surpassed all the madness of tyrants in his savage wildness. Many churches were destroyed by that man; many Christians were tortured to death by him. But he was a mighty man and renowned for the victories he had previously won in many wars with barbarians in Greece and in the Scythian regions. After he came into his fatherland, however, he never ceased from warfare; he was the thunderbolt of the north, a pestilence to all the Danish islands. That man plundered all the coastlands of the Slavs; he subjected the Orkney Islands to his rule; he extended his bloodstained sway as far as Iceland. And so, as he ruled over many nations, he was odious to all in account if his greed and cruelty. He also gave himself up to magic arts and, wretched man that he was, id not heed the fact that his most saintly brother had eradicated such illusions front he realm and striven even unto death for the adoption of the precepts of Christianity…”

18. “Across the Elbe and in Slavia our affairs were still meeting with great success. For Gottschalk, who was mentioned above, a man to be praised for his prudence and valor, married a daughter of the Danish king and so thoroughly subdued the Slavs that they feared him like a king, offered to ay tribute, and asked for a peace with subjection. Under these circumstances our Church at Hamburg enjoyed peace, and Slavia abounded in priests and churches. For Gottschalk, ‘a religious man and one who feared God,’ also an intimate friend of the archbishop, cherished the Church at Hamburg like a mother. He was in the habit of going to her frequently to fulfill his vows. No mightier and more fervent propagator of the Christian religion has ever arisen in hither Slavia. For he had in mind, if a longer life had been granted him, to make all the pagans embrace Christianity, since he converted nearly a third part of those who previously under his grandfather Mistivoi had fallen back into paganism.”

19. “Now all the Slavic peoples who belong to the diocese of Hamburg practiced the Christian religion devoutly under that prince; that is, the Wagiri and Abodrites and Reregi and Polabingi; likewise, the Linguones, Warnavi, Kicini, and Circipani, as far as the Pane River which in the privileges of our Church is called the Peene. The provinces no were full of churches, and the churches full of priests. And the priests attended freely to ‘those things that pertain to God.’ There common servant, the prince Gottschalk, is said to have been inflamed with such ardent zeal for the faith that, forgetting his station, he frequently made discourse in church in exhortation of the people – in church because he wised to make clearer in the Slavic speech what was abstrusely preached by the bishops or priests. Countless was the number of those who ere converted very day; so much so that he sent into every province for priests. Int eh several cities were then also founded monasteries for holy men who lived according to canonical rule, likewise for monks and nuns, as those testify who saw the several communities in Luebeck, Oldeburg, Lenzen, Ratzeburg, and other cities. In Mecklenburg, which is a noted city of the Abodrites, there are said to have been three communities of those who served God. ”

20. “The archbishop rejoiced over the new plantation of churches and he sent the prince, of his bishops and priests, wise men who were to strengthen the untutored folk in the Christian religion. For Oldenburg he consecrated the monk Ezzo when Abhelin died. John the Scot he appointed to Mecklenburg. He assigned a certain Aristo, who had come from Jerusalem, to be in Ratzeburg, and others elsewhere. When he came to Hamburg himself, furthermore, he invited the same Prince Gottschalk to a conference, earnestly exhorting him resolutely to carry through to the finish the work he had begun for Christ, assuring him that victory would attend him in everything; finally, theta he would be blessed if he suffered adversity fir the name of Christ. And he assured him that there were laid up for him in heaven many rewards for his conversion of the pagans, many crowns for the saving at individual souls. With the same words and to the same endeavor the metropolitan exhorted the king of the Danes, who many times came to him as tarried by the Eider River…”

21. “In the course of that same time, events of great importance took place in Slavia that for the glory of God may not be withheld from posterity, for ‘the God of revenge hath acted freely,’ rendering ‘a reward to the proud.’ Although many tribes of the Winuli are renowned for their valor, there are only four, called by us Leutici, by themselves Wilzi, among whom existed contention for leadership and power. These are, namely, the Kicini and Circipani who live this side of the Peene River, the Tholenzi and Redarii who live beyond the Peene. When the quarrel reached the stage of war, the Tholenzi and Redarii, although helped by the Kicini, were nevertheless overcome by the Circipani. When the war was once more renewed, the Redarii were crushed. There was a third attempt, and the Circipani came off victorious. Then they who had been vanquished called to their aid the prince Gottschalk and the duke Bernhard and the king of the Danes. And they proceeded against their enemies. For seven weeks they maintained the immense host of the three rulers from their own resources, and the Circipani fought back valiantly. Many thousands of pagans were laid low on both sides, many more were led off into captivity. At last the Circipani bought peace, offering the rulers fifteen thousand talents. Our forces came home in triumph, but of Christianity there was no mention. The victors were intent only upon booty. Such was the valor of the Circipani, who belong to the bishopric of Hamburg. A certain man prominent among the Nordalbingians told me that these and other things really so happened.”

22. “I have also heard the most veracious king of the Danes say, when in conversation he commented not these matters, that the Slavic peoples without doubt could easily have been converted to Christianity long ago but for the avarice of the Saxons. ‘They are,’ he said, ‘,ore intent not he payment of tribute than on the conversion of the heathen.’ Nor do these wretched people realize with what great danger they will have to atone for their cupidity, they who through their avarice in the first place threw Christianity in Slavia into disorder, int he second place have by their cruelty forced their subjects to rebel, and who now by their desire only for money hold in contempt the salvation of a people who wish to believe. By the just judgement of God, therefore, we see prevailing over us those who by God’s leave have been hardened to the end that by them our iniquity may be sourced. For in truth as we, sinning, see ourselves overcome by our enemies, so, when we are converted, shall we be victorious over our enemies, so, when we are converted, shall we be victorious over our enemies. If only earnestly sought their conversion they would ere now have been saved and we should surely be at peace.”

25. “And though he made very careful provision for his diocese as a whole, the archbishop regarded the metropolis Hamburg as the prime source of his joy. Calling her the fruitful mother of peoples, one to be revered with all manner of devoted service, he declared that she ought to be accorded so much the more consolation because she had been tried by so much greater misfortunes and plotting close to her and by such prolonged molestation on the part of the barbarians. The while he often thought of fortifying Hamburg, and at the same time of embellishing he diocesan seat, whenever peaceful times should be at hand. He undertook to build a work, therefore, that would be serviceable against the attacks of the barbarians, one in which both the Nordalbingian people and the Church would find protection the year round. Now, the entire province of the Sturmarians, in which Hamburg is situated, levels off into a flat pain. In the part which borders on the Slavs there is neither a hill nor a stream at hand to afford the inhabitants protection. Words are to be met with only here and there, but from the protection of their coverts the enemy at times suddenly breaks in unexpected raids upon our people who, thinking themselves secure and suspecting nothing, are either killed or, what is worse than death, led away captive. The only hill in that country rises near the Elbe with its ridge sloping gently westward, and the inhabitants call it the Suellberg. Regarding the is eminence, a fit one on which to erect a stronghold for the protection of the people, the archbishop immediately ordered the woods which covered its top to be cut down and the place to be cleared. Thus, at great expense and with much effort on the part of men his wish was accomplished and the rugged mountain made habitable. There he established a cannonry, planning to form a community of men who served God, but they soon turned into a gang of robbers. For from that stronghold certain of our men began to plunder and harry the countrymen of the vicinity, whom they had been posted to protect. For this reason the place was later destroyed in an uprising of the co-provincials. The Nordalbingian people, however, were excommunicated. Thus, we have learned, was done to favor the duke who, as usual, envied the successful enterprises of the Church.”

27. “…Then he also held out hope to the archbishop of acquiring or receiving the counties and abbacies and estates which we later or chased at the cost of great peril to the Church for example, the monasteries of Lorsch and Carvey; the counties of Bernhard and Egbert, the estates of Sinzig, Plisna, Groningen, Dusiburg, and Lesum. Having under dubious circumstances already got possession of these properties, the metropolitan thought, as it is well said of Xerxes, that he could walk on the sea and sail over the land; in short, that he could easily accomplish everything eh had in mind.”

32. “…To this patriarchate he proposed to subject twelve bishoprics, which he would carve out of his own diocese, besides the suffragan bishops that our Church had in Denmark and over other peoples, in such wise that the first would be in Pahlen on the Eider River, the second in Heiligenstedten, the third in Ratzeburg, the fourth in Oldenburg, the fifth in Mecklenburg, the sixth in Stade, the seventh in Lesum, the eighth in Wildeshausen, the ninth in Bremen, the tenth in Verden, the eleventh in Ramelsloh, the twelfth in Frisia…”

42. “Bernhard, the duke of the Saxons, died in the seventeenth year of our archbishop. Ever since the days of the elder Lievizo, for forty years, indeed, he had vigorously administered the affairs of the Slavs and the Nordalbingians and our own. After his death his sons Ordulf and Hermann received their father’s inheritance, which boded ill for the Church at Bremen…”

44. “…Then, too, Lesum, which had long been desired, came under the jurisdiction of the Church…”

46. “…Since nearly all the bishops and princes of the realm were afflicted with guilty conscience, they were unanimous in their hatred and conspired to destroy him so that the rest should not be imperiled. They all met together therefore, at Tribur and since they had the support of the king’s presence, drove our archbishop from court as if he were a magician and seducer…”

49. “This was the first calamity to overtake us in the diocese of Bremen. But great vengeance also reached across the Elbe because Prince Gottschalk was at this time slain by the pagans whom he was trying to convert to Christianity. And, indeed, the forever memorable man had turned a great part of Slavia to the divine religion. But because as yet ‘the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full,’ nor ‘the time to have mercy on them yet come,’ it ‘must needs be that scandals come,’ that they ‘also, who are approved may be made manifest.’ Our Maccabee suffered on the seventh day before the Ides of June in the city of Lenzen wi tithe priest Yppo, who was immolated at the altar, and many others, both lay and cleric, everywhere underwent diverse tortures for the sake of Christ. The monk Ansver and with him others were stoned at Ratzeburg. Their passion took place on the Ides of July.”

50. For this part see here.

58. “…At this time he acquired Plisna, Duisburg, Groningen, and Sinzig…”

66. “…This hand [of Saint James] the bishop had been given by a bishop Vitalis of the Venetians while he was in Italy.”

67. “…There he was in the habit of appointing the time and place at which our dukes or the neighboring Slavic peoples or other legates from the arctic nations could meet him. Such esteem had he for the ruined city and such love for the exhausted mother that he said in her was fulfilled the prophecy which runs” ‘Rejoice thou barren that nearest not… for many more are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband.”

68. “…Sometimes, also, he wished he might merit dying in the ministry of his legateship either in Slavia or in Sweden or in remotest Iceland…”

70. “…another was John, a bishop of Scotland, a simple and God-fearing man, who later was sent into Slavia [into Pomerania] where he was slain with the prince Gottschalk…”

Book IV

“A Description of the Islands of the North
Here, if you please, the fourth book will begin.”

1. “…Now, this Danish land is separated from our Nordalbingians by the river Eider, which rises in the densely wooded highland of the pagans, called Isarnho, which, they say, extends along the Barbarian Ocean as far as the Schlei Sea.

Schol 95 [class C manuscripts]: “The wooded highland of Isarnho begins Danish bay called the Schlei and reaches as far as the city of the Slavs that is called Lubeck and the river Trave.” [not by Adam]

“The Eider flows into the Frisian Ocean, which the Romans in their writing call the British Ocean. The principal part of Denmark, called Jutland, extends lengthwise from the Eider River toward the north; it is a journey of three days if you turn aside in the direction of the island of Fyn. But if you measure the distance direct from Schleswig to Aalborg, it is a matter of five to seven days’ travel. That is the highway of the Caesar Otto unto the farthermost sea at Wendila, which sea is to this day called the Ottinsand for the king’s victory. At the Eider Jutland is fairly wide, but thereafter it narrows little by little like a tongue to the point called Wendila, where Jutland comes to an end. Thence it is a very short passage to Norway. The soil in Jutland is sterile; except for places close to a river, nearly everything looks like a desert. It is a salt land and a vast wilderness. Furthermore, if Germany as a whole is frightful for its densely wooded highlands, Jutland itself is more frightful in other respects. The land is avoided because of the scarcity of crops, and the sea because it is infested by pirates. Hardly a cultivated spot is to be fond anywhere, scarcely a place fit for human habitation. But wherever there is an arm of the sea it has very large cities… Haddeby … is situated on the arm of the Barbarian Sea named by the inhabitants the Schlei, whence also the city derives its name. From this port ships usually proceed to Slavia or to Sweden or to Samland, even to Greece…”

5. “…To the west of [Zealand] lies Jutland, with the cities of Aarhus and Aalborg, and Wendila; to the north, where it is also a desert, is the Norwegian strait; to the south, the aforementioned Fyn and the Slavic Gulf…”

10. “But now, since the subject provides the occasion, it seems appropriate to say something about the nature of the Baltic Sea. Because I drew upon the writings of Einhard when I previously mentioned this sea in connection with the deeds of Archbishop Adaldag, I shall proceed int he manner of a commentator, setting forth for our people in greater detail what he discussed in abridged form. There is a gulf, Einhard says, that stretches from the Western Ocean towards the east. This gulf is by the inhabitants called the Baltic because, after the manner of a baldric, it extends a long distance through the Scythian regions even to Greece. It is also named the Barbarian Sea or Scythian Lake, from the barbarous peoples whose lands it washes. But the Western Ocean apparently is the one which the Romans in their writings called the British Ocean. It is of immense breadth, terrible and dangerous, and on the west encompasses Britain to which is now given the name England. On the south it touches the Frisians and the part of Saxony that belongs to our dioceses of Hamburg, On the east there are Danes and the mouth of the Baltic Sea and the Norwegians, who live beyond Denmark, On the north that ocean flows by the Orkney Islands and then encircles the earth in boundless expanses. On the left there is Hibernia, the fatherland of the Scots, which now is called Ireland. On the right there are the crags of Norway, and farther on the islands of Iceland and Greenland. There ends the ocean called dark.”

11. What Einhard says about the unexplored length of this gulf has latterly been proved by the enterprise of the highly spirited men, Ganuz Wolf, a Danish leader, and Harold, the king of the Norwegians. After exploring the compass of this sea with much toilsome travel and many dancers to their associates, they finally came back, broken and overcome by the redoubled blows of the winds and pirates. But the Danes affirm that many have oftentimes explored the length of this sea. With a favorable wind some have reached Ostrogard in Russia from Denmark in the course of a month. As to its breadth, he asserts that it is ‘nowhere more than a hundred miles … and in many places narrower.’ This can be seen at the mouth of that sea, the entrance of which from the ocean, between Aalborg or Wendila, the heartland of Denmark, and the cliffs of Norway is so narrow that it is an easy trip of one night across by sail. Likewise, on leaving the bounds of Denmark, the sea stretches wide its arms, which come together a second time in the region of the Goths by the side of whom live the Wilzi. The farther one goes, then, the farther do its coast lines spread apart.”

12. “Many peoples, Einhard says, occupy the shores of this sea. The Danes and the Swedes, whom we call Northmen, hold both its northern shore and all the islands off it. The Slavs, the Esths, and various other peoples inhabit the eastern shore; amongst them the Welatabi, also called Wilzi, are the most important. The Danes and the Swedes and the other peoples beyond Denmark are all called Northmen by the historians of the Franks, although the Roman writers named men of this kind Hyperboreans, whom Martianus Capella extolled with many commendations.”

13. “At the mouth of the sea mentioned before, on its southern coast facing us, there live as far as the Schlei Sea the first people the first people, the Danes, who are called Jutes. There begins the territory of the diocese of Hamburg, which extends a long way through the midst of the Slavic coastal peoples as far as the Peene River. There are the limits of our dioceses. From that place to the Oder River the Wilzi and Leutici have their homes. Across the Oder, as we have learned, live the Pomeranians; beyond them stretches the very extensive country of the Poles, the boundary of which, they say, joins with that of the kingdom of Russia. This is the farthest and largest province of the Winuli, and it also is the end of that sea.”

14. “Returning now to the northern parts at the entrance of the Baltic Sea, first come the Norwegians; then Scania, which belongs to the Danes, juts out, and beyond it live the Goths in an extensive domain reaching to Bjorko. After that the Swedes rule over a spacious region extending to the land of women. Beyond them, as far as Russia, are said to live the Wizzi, Mirri, Lami, Scuti, and Turci. In this area that sea again comes to an end. Thus, the Slavs possess the southern litoral of that sea; the Swedes, the northern.”

15. “Those who have knowledge of geography also assert that some men have passed by an overland route from Sweden into Greece. But the barbarous peoples who live between make this way difficult; consequently, the risk is taken by ship.”

16. “In this sea there are many islands, all of which are under the dominion of the Danes Swedes, though a few are held by the Slavs. Of these islands, at a short distance from one another, the first is Wendila, at the head of this strait, the second is Morso, the third is Thyholm. The fourth, opposite the city of Aarhus, is Samso. The fifth is Fyn, the sixth is Zealand, which lies close to it. Of these islands we have made mention before. They say that the seventh, which is very near Scania and Gotaland, is called Holm, the most celebrated part of Denmark and a safe anchorage for the ships that are usually dispatched to the barbarians and to Greece. There are, furthermore, close to Fyn on the southeast – although Laaland reaches father inwards to the confines of the Slavs – seven other smaller islands, which we said above are rich in crops, that is, Moen, Fehmarn, Falster, Laaland, Langeland, and so all the others in their vicinity. These fourteen islands belong to the kingdom of the Danes, and they all are distinguished by the honor of being Christian. There also are other more distant islands that are subject to the authority of the Swedes. Of these islands the largest, the one called Courland, takes eight days to traverse. The people, exceedingly bloodthirsty because of their stubborn devotion to idolatry, are shunned by everybody. Gold is very plentiful there, the horses are of the best; all the houses are full of pagan soothsayers, diviners, and necromancers, who are even arrayed in a monastic habit. Oracular responses are sought there from all parts of the world, especially by Spaniards and Greeks. This island, we believe, is called Chori in the Vita of Saint Ansgar, and the Swedes at that time subjected it to tribute. A church has now been built there through the zeal of a merchant whom the king of the Danes moved to do this by many gifts. The king himself, rejoicing in the Lord, recited this canticle for me.”

17. “We were told, ,moreover, that there are in this sea many other islands, of which a large one is called Estland. It is not smaller than the one of which we have previously spoken. Its people, too, are utterly ignorant of the God of the Christians. They adore dragons and birds and also sacrifice to them live men whom they buy from the merchants. These men are carefully inspected all over to see that they are without a bodily defect on account of which, they say, the dragons would reject them. This island is said, indeed, to be very near the land of women, because the one referred to before is not far from Bjorko of the Swedes.”

18. “Of the islands that lie near the Slavs, we understand that three are of considerable importance. The first of them is called Fehmarn. It is opposite the Wagiri, so it can be seen from Oldenburg, like the one named Laaland. The second, opposite the Wilzi, is possessed by the Rani or Runi, the most powerful of the Slavic peoples, without whose consent nothing may lawfully be done in matters of public concern; so much are they feared on account of their familiarity with the gods, or rather demons, whom this people holds in greater veneration than do the others. Both these islands, too, are infested by pirates and by very bloodthirsty robbers who spare no one who passes that way. For they kill all those whom others are accustomed to sell. The third island, that called Samland, is close to the Russians and Poles. It is inhabited by the Sembi or Prussians, a most humane people, who go out to help those who are in peril at sea or who are attacked by pirates. Gold and silver they hold in very slight esteem. They have an abundance of strange furs, the odor of which has inoculated our world with the deadly poison of pride. But these furs they regard, indeed, as dung, to our shame, I believe, for right or wrong we hanker after a martenskin robe as much as for supreme happiness. Therefore, they offer their very precious marten furs for the woolen garments called faldones [note: fałdy]. Many praiseworthy things could be said about these peoples with respect to their morals, if only they had the faith of Christ whose missionaries they cruelly persecute. At their hands Adalbert, the illustrious bishop of the Bohemians, was crowned with martyrdom. Alhtough they share everything else with our people, they prohibit only, to this very day indeed, access to their groves and springs which, they aver, are polluted by the entry of Christains. They take the meat of their draft animals for food and use their milk and blood as drink so freely that they are said to become intoxicated. These men are blue of color, ruddy of face, and long-haired. Living, moreover, in inaccessible swamps, they will not endure a master among them.”

19. “In this sea there are also very many other islands, all infested by ferocious barbarians and for this reason avoided by navigators. Likewise, round about the shore of the Baltic Sea, it is said, live the Amazons in what is now called the land of women. Some declare that these women conceive by sipping water. Some, too, assert that they are made pregnant by the merchants who pass that way, or by the men whom they hold captive in their midst, or by various monsters, which are not rare there. This explanation we also believe to be more credible. And when these women come to give birth, if the offspring be of the male sex, they come Cynocephali; if of the feminine kind, they become most beautiful women. Living by themselves, the latter spurn consort with men and, if men do come near, even drive them manfully away. The Cynocephali are men who have their heads on their breasts. They are often seen in Russia as captives and they voice their words in barks. In that region, too, are those who are called Alani or Albani, in their language named Wizzi; very hard-hearted gluttons, born with grey hair. The writer Solinus mentions them. Dogs defend their country. Whenever the Alani have to fight, they draw up their dogs in battle line. Palefaced, green, and macrobiotic, that is, long-lived men, called Husi, also live in those parts. FinalIy, there are those who are given the name Anthropophagi and they feed on human flesh. In that territory live very many otter kinds of monsters whom mariners say they have often seen, although our people think it hardly credible.”

20. “No mention, I have learned, has been made by any of the learned men about what I have said concerning this Baltic or Barbarian Sea, save only Einhard of whom we have spoken above. But, since the names have been changed, I am of the opinion that this body of water was perhaps called by the ancient Romans the Scythian or Maeotic swamp, or ‘the wilds of the Getae,’ or the Scythian swamp, which Martian says was ‘full of a muItifarious diversity of barbarians.’ There, he says, live the Getae, Dacians, Sarmatians, Alani, Neutri, Geloni, Anthropophagi, and Troglodytes. Because he deplored their delusions, our metropolitan appointed Bjorko as a metropolis for those peoples. This city, situated in central Sweden, lies opposite Jumne, the city of the Slavs, and all the shorelines of that sea encirle it at equal distances. For this city he first consecrated of our clerics the abbot Hiltinus, whom he himself wished to be named John. And so, enough has been said about the islands of the Danes. Now we shall turn our discourse to the Swedish and Norwegian peoples, who are close to the Danes.”

29. “…Observing that the people murmured about this design of the confessors of God, the most pious king Stenkil shrewdly kept them from such an undertaking [proposal was to destroy the temple at Uppsala], declaring that they would at once be punished with death and he be driven from the kingdom for bringing malefactors into the country, and that everyone who now believed would quickly relapse into paganism, as they could see had lately been the case in Slavia…”

31. “…All, indeed, who live in Norway are thoroughly Chrisian, except those who are removed beyond the arctic tract along the ocean…That mountain range is named by Roman writers the Rhiphaean ran, terrible for its perpetual snows. Without these frosty snows the Skritefingi cannot live, and in their course over the deepest drifts they fly even faster than the wild beasts. In those same mountains* there are such large numbers of big game that the greatest part of the country subsists only on the beasts of the forest. Aurochs, buffaloes, and elk are taken there as in Sweden. Bison, furthermore, are caught in Slavia and Russia…”

Schol. 141 [class C manuscripts]: “Paul affirms in his History of the Lombards [Book I, IV] that in a cavern off the ocean in the farthest northern parts among the Skritefingi seven men lie as if asleep [Miracula of Gregory of Tours I, 95]. About them there are divergent opinions, including the belief that they are going to preach to those heathen about the time the world will end. Others say that some of the Eleven Thousand Virgins came to this region and that their attendants and ships are buried in a mountain and that miracles are wrought there. In that place Olaf also built a church.”

Wipo’s Champions

PublishedJuly 17, 2016 Post authortorino

One on one combat appears as a solution to wider bloodshed in a number of places. As per Gregory of Tours we know that the Vandal champion fought the Suevi-Alemann champion and lost (the Vandals then left Spain, as per the story). In the Slavic area there was the duel at Agrimeswidil between Burwid and a Slav champion as reported by Adam of Bremen.

But there was another (or was it?) duel of the champions – this one between a Saxon Christian and a Slav heathen. And this time the advantage was the Slav’s. The story is told by Wipo of Burgundy (circa 995 – circa 1048) in his “The Deeds of Conrad II” (Gesta Chuonradi II). The champion’s duel takes place in the broader context of the Empire’s war against the Lutizi in 1035 or so. As Wipo observes, the Slavic champion prevailed because, notwithstanding being a pagan, “truth” was on his side. (As in his book, he also discusses Piasts and other Slavs, we will return to Wipo later).

Henry

note: King (at the beginning of the story, actually Duke of Bavaria) Henry is Henry III or Henry the Black or the Pious who was emperor in the years 1046 – 1056. Conrad II was his father and was emperor from 1027 to 1039. After his death, Henry ruled as king and then, startin in 1046, as emperor.

Chapter 33
How King Henry Subdued the Slavs
Quod rex Heinricus Sclavos subiugavit

(about 1033 or 1035)

“In the meantime, while the Emperor [Conrad II] was in Burgundy, engaged in the matters in the matters discussed above, his son King Henry [the future Henry III], though still in his childhood years, oversaw matters of state in Bohemia and other Slavic countries; and he subjugated strenuously Udalrich the duke of Bohemia and many others who had resisted many emperors; and he returned to meet his father, the double victory bringing double joy to the people.”

(Interea, dum haec quae superius dicta sunt imperator in Burgundia faceret, filius suus Heinricus rex, licet in puerilibus annis, non segnius rei publicae consuluit in Bohemia et in caeteris regionibus Sclavorum; ubi et Uodalricum ducem Bohemiae et reliquos quam plures caesari adversantes strenue subiugavit, et redeunti patri occurrens, de duplici victoria duplex gaudium populis effecerat.)

“Then he assembled Saxon troops against those who are called Liutizi who were once almost Christian but now through the wickedness of apostasy are all pagans [but] the emperor came and miraculously stopped the conflict. At that time there were many conflicts and incursions between the Saxons and the pagans. When the emperor came he began to inquire as to when the peace that had been inviolate for so long [among them] had been destroyed. The pagans claimed that it was the Saxons that first breached the peace and that, if the emperor were to permit it, they would show it in a trial by combat. And so too the Saxons (though their claim was unjust) to refute the pagans likewise accepted single combat in front of the emperor. The emperor consulted their leaders and, acting incautiously, permitted this trial by duel. At once two fighters met, each chosen by his own [men]. A Christian supported by faith alone (but without any good works is dead, to be honest, for he has not seriously considered that God, who is the truth, decides all in the true court, he, who lets his sun rise over the good and the evil, who lets it rain over the just and the unjust) began the combat bravely. The heathen, though, who had before his eyes only the consciousness of truth for which he fought, resisted strongly. At the end the Christian was wounded by the heathen and fell.

The Slavic champion came better prepared that day

(Deinde collectis copiis de Saxonia, super eos qui Liutizi vocantur, quique olim semicristiani, nunc per apostaticam nequitiam omnino sunt pagani, imperator venit, ibique conflictum implacabilem mirabiliter diremit. Inter Saxones enim et paganos fiebant ea tempestate multae dissensiones et incursiones. Cumque caesar veniret, coepit quaerere, ex qua parte pax, quae diu inviolata inter eos fuerat, prius corrumperetur. Dicebant pagani, a Saxonibus pacem primitus confundi, idque per duellum, si caesar praeciperet, probari. Econtra Saxones ad refellendos paganos similiter singulare certamen, quamvis iniuste contenderent, imperatori spondebant. Imperator, consulentibus principibus suis, licet non satis caute ageret, hanc rem duello diiudicari inter eos permisit. Statim duo pugiles congressi sunt, uterque a suis electus. Christianus in sola fide, quae sine operibus iustitiae mortua est, confidens, et non diligenter attendens, quod Deus, qui veritas est, omnia in vero iudicio disponint, qui solem suum oriri super bonos et malos facit, qui pluit super iustos et iniustos, audacter pugnare coepit. Paganus autem solam conscientiam veritatis, pro qua dimicabat, prae oculis habens, acriter resistebat. Postremo christianus a pagano vulneratus cecidit.)

Confirmation of same events from the Chronicon Suevicum Universale

“As a result of this the pagans became so haughty and audacious that, had the Emperor not been there, they would have immediately attacked the Christians; but the Emperor built the castle Wirbin in order to prevent their incursions and he garrisoned the same and he obligated the leaders of Saxony to unanimously resist the heathens [both] through an oath and the imperial command. Then he returned to Francia.”

(Ex qua re pagani in tantam elationem et audaciam venerunt, ut, nisi imperator adesset, continuo irruerent super christianos; sed imperator ad compescendas incursiones eorum construxit castrum Wirbinam, in quo praesidia militum locabat, et principies Saxoniae, ut unanimiter resisterent paganis, sacramento et imperiali iussione constringebat. Deinde reversus est in Franciam.)

“But in the following year, that castle was taken by the heathens through trickery and a great part of our men [garrisoned there] were killed. Angered by this, the Emperor returned with an army to the Elbe River. But since the pagans were defending the passage, the Emperor had a part of his army cross the river at a different ford. And after the enemies were forced to flee, he invaded the country from the now freed up river bank and humbled them so greatly, by [causing] immense destruction and devastation everywhere, with the exception of those places that were impregnable, that from then on they paid the Emperor Konrad the tribute imposed on them by the prior emperors and even more.”

(Sequenti vero anno idem castrum a paganis dolo captum est, et plures nostrorum qui in eo erant ab eis occisi sunt. Hinc commotus imperator, iterum cum copiis usque Albim fluvium venit. Sed cum pagani transitum prohiberent, imperator per aliud vadum fluvii partem exercitus latenter transmisit; et ita fugatis hostibus, ipse per ripam liberam regionem ingrediens, immensis devastationibus et incendiis ubique, nisi in locis inexpugnabilibus, sic humiliavit eos, ut censum ab antiquis imperatoribus propositum et iam auctum Chuonrado imperatori postea persolverent.)

Conrad on the throne

“The Emperor Conrad struggled much [both] before and at that time with the peoples of the Slavs; about which one of ours had created a kind of summary [breviarium] which he later presented to the Emperor. There, one reads, how the Emperor, from time to time, stood up to his waste in these swamps, where he himself fought and urged his warriors onwards, and how he, after his victory over the heathens, and on account of their unspeakable superstition, massacred the same [heathens] terribly.”

(Multum enim laboravit Chuonradus imperator prius et tunc in gente Sclavorum; unde quidam de nostris quoddam breviarium versifice fecit, quod postea imperatori praesentavit. Ibi legitur, qualiter imperator interdum in paludibus usque gemora stabat, pugnans ipse et exhortans milites ut pugnarent, et victis paganis nimis acriter tucidabat eos pro quadam superstitione illorum nefandissima.)

“For it is told that the heathens had, at one time, lampooned a wooden crucifix of our Lord Jesus Christ in unspeakable ways, for they spat on it and hit it with a fist; eventually, they ripped out his eyes and ripped off his hands and feet. In order to punish this, the Emperor had a great deal of the captured heathens, just for this one figure of Christ, mutilated in similar ways and in killed in various ways. It is for this reason that the Emperor is called in this poem the Avenger of the Faith and compared with the Roman Emperors Titus and Vespasian, who in order to avenge the Lord [!], exchanged thirty Jews for one gold piece, just as the Jews exchanged the Lord for just as many coins. The Emperor returned [to Francia] and, to the extent he found any, he dispersed all the remaining obstacles in the Empire with his imperial might. In the same year Adalbert, the duke of the Carinthians, who fell out of favor with the Emperor, lost his duchy and was banished ”

(Nam fertur, ut quodam tempore efficiem ligneam crucifixi domini nostri Iesu Christi scelerato ludibrio habuissent pagani, et in eam spuerent atque colaphis caederent; ad extremum oculos eruebant, manus et pedes truncabant. Haec ulciscens imperator, de captis paganis maximam multitudinem pro una effigie Christi simili modo truncavit et varia morte delevit. Idcirco in eisdem versibus caesar ultor fidei vocatur, et Romanis principibus Tito et Vespasiano comparatur, qui in ultionem Domini triginta Iudaeos pro uno nummo commutaverant, cum Iudaei Christum pro totidem denariis vendiderint. Reversus imperator, quicquid obstaculi in regno invenit, imperiose disiecit. Eodem anno Adalbero dux Carantanorum imperatoris gratiam perdens, ducatum amisit et in exilium misss est.)

The Wends of Knýtlinga Saga

PublishedJune 24, 2016 Post authortorino

We previously spent some time on the religious aspects of the Knýtlinga Saga but that work contains plenty more regarding Wends. Here are the other sections discussing Slavs, Wends or places that clearly are (or possibly could be) Slavic (mostly in the Palsson/Edwards translation). We also include mentions of the Cours (Kurs) – a Baltic tribe of Kurland (and later of the Kurische Haff). Notes in red with Danish monarchs names bolded to provide an easier chronology.

(We do not discuss everything that could be related to Slavs though. Thus, we do not discuss Vidgaut the trader who is described as a Semgallian in the Knýtlinga Saga and whose story of conversion in Denmark seems very similar to that of Witscacus (Herbord) or Wirtscachus (Ebo) of the Life of Otto – who was described there as a “citizen of Szczecin” – though we did not discuss him there given the secular nature of the tale.)

Section 1
Dealings with Germany

“After his father’s death, Harald Gormsson was made king in Denmark. He was a strong ruler, and a great leader in war, having conquered Holstein in Saxony. He also possessed an extensive earldom in Wendland, where he founded Jomsburg and stationed a large military force to which he gave both pay and certain rights. They governed the land under his authority and spent the summer on viking expeditions, but wintered quietly at home. They were known as the Jomsvikings.”

[note: Harald Gormsson (circa 935 – 985/986) aka Harald Bluetooth, son of Gorm the Old, was a King of Denmark and Norway and likely the first Christian ruler of the country; also, speaking of the Jomsvikings, there is one mention of Palnatoki in the Knýtlinga Saga – not in the context of Slavs – for more see the Jomsvikinga Saga]

Section 5
Fighting and Family Matters

“…King Svein married Gunnhild, daughter of King Burizlav of the Wends, and their sons were Knut and Harald. Later, King Svein married Sigrid the Ambitious [the Haughty – see Heimskringla – “world circle” (compare krąg or kręgle)], daughter of Skoglar-Tosti and mother of King Olaf of Sweden. Her previous marriage had been to King Eirik the Victorious of Sweden. King Svein and Sigrid had a daughter, Astrid, who married Earl Ulf, son of Thorgils Strut-Leg, and their sons were named Svein and Bjorn. A daughter of King Svein Forkbeard, Gyda, married Earl Hakon Hakonarson, and their son was Earl Hakon whom Olaf the Saint took prisoner in Sauesund…”

Although the armour covers Svein’s forked-beard, you can still admire the rest of his handsome features

[note: This refers to Svein Forkbeard (960–1014) who was the son of Harald Bluetooth; Gunnhild is likely Świętosława, the daughter of Mieszko I (and sister of Boleslaw of Poland); the name is hypothetical – solely based on an inscription of Santslaue being described as the sister of King Knut the Great and the assumption that that sister was named after her mother. In other words, she may well have been a Wendish princess but her name may have been Gunnhild – note that, after the death of Dobrawa, Mieszko I remarried – taking as wife the German princess Oda so a German name would not have been surprising in his family.]

Section 6
Campaigns Abroad

“King Svein was a great man of war and the strongest of the rulers. He plundered widely both to the east in the Baltic and south in Saxony. Eventually he led his troops west into England and plundered far and wide, fighting many battles. King Aethelred, Edgar’s son ruled there at the time…”

Section 11
Earl Ulf’s Escape

“As usual, Earl Ulf was among the foremost of King Knut’s men and pursued the fleeing enemy [the English] further than anyone else. Then he found himself in this forest, so dense that though he tried all night, he could discover no way out until daylight came. Then on some open ground before him he saw a full-grown youngster herding a flock of sheep. The earl approached him and asked his name.”

“‘I’m called Godwin [son of the “farmer” Wulfnot aka Wulfnoth the thegn of Wessex – and also a traitor],’ he answered. ‘Are you one of King Knut’s men?'”

Wulfnoth and Godwin

[Godwin then helped Ulf reach his ships]

“… The earl then set Godwin on the high seat beside him, and treated him as equal with himself or his own son To cut a long story short, the earl gave Godwin his own sister Gyda in marriage, and as a result of his brother-in-law Ulf’s friendship and backing, Godwin was awarded an earldom by King Knut.”

“These were the children of Godwin and Gyda: King Harald of England, Earl Tosti nicknamed Treespear, Earl Morkar, Earl Waltheof, and Earl Svein. Many great men from England, Denmark, Sweden and east from Russia are descended from them, including the royal house of Denmark.”

“Earl Godwin’s son, King Harald, and a daughter, Gyda, who married King Valdemar of Novgorod, and their son, King Harald, had two daughters of whom more will be said later.”

[note: Earl or Jarl Ulf is Ulf Thorgilsson the father of Svein II. About the family of Godwin, Earl of Wessex see below]

Section 17
Knut Goes to Rome

“… Later when war broke out between King Olaf [Haraldsson of Norway] and King Knut, Knut and Earl Hakon went to Norway with an invincible army. This took place towards the end of King Olaf’s reign. They conquered the whole kingdom and King Knut appointed his nephew Hakon to rule over Norway, while he himself went back to Denmark. King Olaf fled abroad, traveling east to Russia but two years later he came back to Norway and fought a great battle at Stiklestad against his landed men, who had proved disloyal to him and had set up in opposition. As everyone knows, he was killed there, and lies, a saint, in his shrine at Trondheim…”

Knut the Great – great warrior but a bit one dimensional

[note: After a short reign of Harald II (1014-1018), his brother, Knut the Great (circa 995 – 1035) took the Danish (and English and Norwegian) throne.]

Section 22
Hostilities

“Svein Ulfsson was given the title of earl by King Magnus [so this is after 1042], and with it the effective rule over the Danish kingdom, when they met at the Goeta River, when Svein agreed on oath to the peace settlement. Then King Magnus went back north to Norway and Svein crossed over to Denmark. That same autumn the Danes made Svein Ulfsson their king, after which he laid the whole country under his rule and became king of it. King Magnus learned of this and in the following spring sailed for Denmark with a great army. He fought a battle that summer at Jomsburg in Wendland and won the victory, burning down the stronghold and many other settlements across the land. In the autumn King Magnus fought another battle on the day before Michaelmas at the Konge River a little to the north of Hedeby on Lyrskov Heath, where he was fighting against the Wends. King Magnus won the victory there aided by the sanctity and miraculous intervention of his father Olaf, an innumerable host of the heathen. According to some Svein Ulfsson fought beside King Magnus in that battle as their agreement still held. This is what Thorleik the Fair said in the poem he wrote about Svein Ulfson:”

“‘The princely gold-dispenser
dispatched the enemy,
in the clash of weapons
few Wends got away:
the carrion-birds croaked
on the necks of the corpses
strewn in their hundreds
on the heath north of Hedeby…‘”

[then that same autumn the saga relays that Svein and Magnus fought one another]

“…In the spring Harald Sigurdson, who was related to Svein by marriage, travelled to Sweden from Russia in the east. Harald’s wife, Ellisif, was the daughter of King Jaroslav of Novgorod, and her mother Ingigerd was the daughter of Olaf the Swede, Svein Ulffson’s uncle. Svein and Harald joined forces and gathered an army, then crossed to Denmark where they ravaged the whole land and laid it completely under their rule.”

“When King Magnus heard of this he went to face them with an army from Norway…”

Harefoot & Harthaknut

[note: After the death of Knut the Great, his son, Harald Harefoot (circa 1015 – 1040) took over and after him, his brother Knut III or Harthaknut (circa 1018 – 1042) was King of Denmark. However, after the untimely death of that King (alcohol poisoning/stroke or just poisoning), it was the son of Olaf II Haraldsson – Knut the Great’s competitor – who became the next king of Denmark – that was Magnús Óláfsson or Magnus the Good (circa 1024 – 1047).]

Section 23
King Svein’s Children

“…Torgisl, son of King Svein, travelled east to Russia where he had distinguished kin on his mother’s side, and was brought up and made king there so that he never came back to Denmark. King Svein’s son Sigurd was killed in Wendland.”

[note: Sweyn or Svein II Estridsson (circa 1019 – circa 1074/1076), son of Jar Ulf]

Section 26
Tension

“…King Svein’s son, Knut [IV, the Saint], had been busy on viking expeditions in the Baltic with a large force of men and a fine fleet of shops, and it was on these expeditions to the Baltic that according to Karl Manason’s poem, Knut defeated ten kings.”

Section 29
Law and Order

“King Knut was a strict and powerful ruler, who punished evildoers with great severity, During the reign of Harald Whetstone, however, there had been little in the way of punishment for outrages committed wither by the Danes themselves, or by vikings plundering in Denmark, such as Courlanders and others from the Baltic region. After Knut came to power he defended the land fiercely and drove all the heathen not only from his land but from the very seas: so that because of Knut’s authority and strength of arms, no viking would dare lay off the coast of Denmark…”

Sena Kursa or Kurzeme or Kursa – excuse the crease

[note: after a short reign of his bastard brother Harald II Whetstone (circa 1040 – 1080) the throne came to King Knut IV the Holy (circa 1042 – 1086)]

Section 30
King Knut’s Brothers

“…Thorgisl Sveinsson was adopted as king east in Russia, as was written earlier, and never made claim to the throne of Denmark…”

Section 35
Blood-Egil

“One summer, Egil got ready to travel abroad with his band of fighting men. He had eighteen ships and sailed for Wendland where he began looting as soon as he reached land. The Wends gathered a huge army with which they confronted Egil and fought a great battle with heavy loss of life on both sides. Brave and resolute, Egil stood forward and fought like a true warrior.”

“The fighting took place aboard the ships, and Egil’s lay closets to the one carrying the leader of the Wends. When the battle was fiercest and none could really tell which way it would swing, Egil leapt from his ship onto the Wendish vessel, struck at the enemy chieftain dealing him his deathblow, and then vaulted backwards onto his own ship. The Wends were routed sand Egil won a great victory and a great deal of plunder, but he was so exhausted he was barely conscious. Then, aboard his ship, he sat up and asked for a drink.”

[note: at which point he drank blood because all the barrels had been broken in the fighting and all the drink they brought with them had been spilled as a result. This caused him to earn his name but also caused issues with the blasphemy of blood drinking; since he also looted fellow Danes and other Christians, Knut IV eventually had him executed]

Section 42
Preparations For War

[note: this happens while the Danes and Norwegians are assembling for war against England; presumably Knut did not want to be attacked by the Wends while away fighting in England – though his subjects were not so patient]

“…King Knut had not yet arrived but he sent officers to the troops to inspect the levy and tell the men they would not have long to wait for him.”

“Seven night passed without the king’s arrival and the tops were far from happy about his failure to come. But there was a reason why he failed to turn up at he appointed time: people had come to warn him that the Wends had mobilized their troops and meant to attack Denmark in the summer in revenge for the war Blood-Egil had waged against them The king sat and thought about this and decided to send messengers to the Wends with an offer of peace, and a warning not to attack his kingdom as it would be far beyond their capabilities to make war on him.”

“‘Many would suffer injury and grief for it.’ he said, ‘I want us to arrange a truce between our two countries so that neither will attack the other.'”

“The messengers set out to meet the Wends and the king said he would wait seven days for them as he did not wish to leave the country until he knew for sure that this war had been prevented. The week passed and the messengers failed to return. The Danes grew tired of waiting for they were all crowded together and found this hard to bear, They considered it poor management to keep such a great army in one place for no good purpose, and the chieftains made long speeches about the problem. In the need they decided to send messengers to the king sand asked his brother Olaf to undertake this mission, but he was reluctant and said tha the king would wish to come and go as it suited him.”

[note: Eventually the Danes, delegate Olaf, the king’s brother to go to King Knut IV. Olaf goes reluctantly and gets imprisoned by his brother the king. Eventually the king arrives but the Danes had already disbanded leaving the Norwegians the only ones there)].

Section 43
The Troops

[Knut IV then arrived; seeing that the Danes had already left, he thanked the Norwegians for staying true but ordered them to sail back to Norway as he had to deal with the Danes. He sailed back to Zealand]

“…He had a large force of men with him, and then the messengers he had sent to Wendland returned with the news that the Wends would be glad to keep peace and agreement with him. Their reason for having troops offshore was that they thought he was not to be trusted, and had heard he meant to lead the huge army he had mustered against Wendland. They had wanted to be ready to defend their country should it be attacked, but now they sent fine gifts and friendly words to Knut, who was delighted with the news.”

Where are they know? – Knut the Holy

[note: Knut IV would eventually be killed in Odense cathedral during a farmers’ rebellion. Incidentally, one of the leaders of that rebellion – Earl Asbjorn – is, according to the Knytlingasaga, said to have been eaten by rats (presumably for the crime of regicide) who attacked him, a la Popiel (and others), in a village inn (?) he was staying in, pursued him outside onto his ship and eventually got him on the open sea]

Section 70
Earl Eirik

“Eirik Sveinsson was still Earl of Zealand, in charge of the lands his brother King Knut had entrusted him. Earl Eirik was a strong and popular chieftain, always having with him a large company of retainers. He sailed on viking expeditions to the Baltic fighting against the heathen, but allowed all Christians and merchants to go in peace wherever they might wish. For this reason he was renowned and popular throughout the Baltic and everyone of importance knew his name. He journeyed all the way east to Russia, visiting the homes of chieftains and other great men all of whom welcomed him with friendship and respect , and he received fine gifts from powerful leaders. In the words of Markus Skeggjason in his Lay of Eirik:

East in Russia the virtuous
adviser visisted
land-guardians lavish
to their lord, hating meanness.
Praised for his peacefulness
by the people, he won
their hearts in the eastlands,
all men honoured his excellence.

Earl Eirik got ready to leave Russia early in spring and as soon as the ice broke he launched his ships, sparing no expense in the preparations. Early in summer he sailed home from the east to his lands in Denmark. In the words of Markus:

The waster of the Wends
furnished well
his splendid ships, sailed
in summer from Russia,
heaved them into the hollow wave,
held out agains the storm, he,
the bane of traitor, bold,
beached his vessel in Denmark.”

Section 73
King Eirik’s Rule

“King Eirik turned out to be a strong and impressive ruler, and the most popular of kings, He imposed harsh punishments on bad conduct, exterminated vikings and villains, had thieves and robbers put to death or else mutilated their hands of feet or inflicted other severe punishments, so that no evil-doer in the land could prosper. He was a fair judge and observed the laws of God strictly, as Markus says:

The Wend-slayer wiped out
the wolves, subdued looters,
hacked off thieves’ hands
and punished bad habits:
none could say he was ever swayed,
sitting in judgment;
Gold’s law was the victorious one’s
guide for his own good.

King Eirik was a man of intelligence, a fine scholar and fluent in many languages, an eloquent speaker with a remarkable memory, as Markus says:

Wealthy, warm-hearted,
unblemished the warrior,
mighty in memory
and matters of the mind:
he had courage, each kind
of accomplishment; from his youth
he;d a talent for tongues,
he towered above most kings.”

[note: After Olaf I Hunger of Denmark (circa 1050 – 1095) who was mentioned above, the throne fell to yet another son of Sweyn II Estridsson – Eric I the Good (circa 1060 – 1103) who was a notorious philanderer and quite a “strapping fellow”]

Section 75
Emperor Heinrek

“At that time, the Emperor in Saxony was Heinrek, son of Heinrek the Black, a powerful ruler and great warrior. When he heard that kIng Eirik had gone abroad, he gathered a large army from his empire and led it into Wendland where he plundered the province long ruled by the Kings of Denmark. He conquered the entire province and all the inhabitants granted him their allegiance. At that time the whole population of Wendland was heathen.”

“The emperor appointed many chieftains to govern the province he had laid under his rule, the most powerful being a man called Bjorn.”

Being an emperor was a bit of a balancing act – comfortable footwear helped

“‘Sir’, said Bjorn to the emperor, ‘considering the great havoc we’ve created in this province of the Kings of Denmark, we’re going to be in great need of your troops and your trusty aid, so I’d like to ask for the hand in marriage of your sister, Lady Bothild, for it seems my position here isn’t altogether safe owing to the Danes. you know about my family bacgrkiund and my capabilities.'”

“The emperor said he would grant him this and other such honours he might seek, provided he was ready to devote himself and all his strength to maintaining a grip on this great honour they had won, and to defend this province against the Danes or anyone else who might claim it…”

“… After the Emperor Heinrek had conquered the province of the Kings of Denmark in Wendland he appointed his brother-in-law Bjorn to rule there, then returned home to Saxony, while Bjorn settled down with his troops in the Danish Kings’ province in wend land intending to hold it against the Danes.”

“That was the time when King Eirik came back north from Rome, shortly after the Wends had broken their allegiance to him, and later it will be told how that disloyalty turned out for them. As Markus says:

The Wends wanted their way,
that wickedness hurt them:
from the south came the story
of those snakes in the grass.”

[note: this is Emperor Henry IV (circa 1050 – 1106)].

Section 76
War in Wendland

“After King Eirik returned home to his kingdom and heard about the ate of war committed in his province in Wendland by the emperor, he held meetings attended by noblemen and farmers to discuss matters. At one of the assemblies at which he spoke he had this to say.”

“‘Everyone knows,’ he said, ‘about the southerners’ aggression against the province of Wendland which our kinsmen, the Kings of Denmark have ruled for so long. Now Iwant all my men to know that we shall either force back the aggressor or die ourselves.'”

“Then he sent a call to arms throughout the Danish empire, mustering a great army, and after assembling a fleet of warships he sailed with his troops to Wendland, as Markus says:

The king sailed ingot he storm,
the sea shook gunwales,
hammered hoarfrosted
prows off the Wends’ homesteads.”

“When the Wendish chieftains appointed by the emperor to take charge of the defenses heard that the Danish army was ready to fight them, they gathered troops and prepared for battle. King Eirik was told that they had assembled there and that the Wends meant to prevent him from entering his province. At that, he got ready for battle, put his troops ashore and formed up his large, well-equipped army. His troops were drawn up in a wedge-shaped column so that the van functioned was a pointed breastplate, with a wall of shields protecting it at the sides. As Markus says:

The bestower of gifts surrounded
his soldiers with shields
overlapping: the leader shaped
a wedge as they collided.”

“King Eirik had his standard carried forward and then the battle began. He was towards the forefront of the column, helmed and wearing a coat of mail, fighting heroically, in the words of Markus:

The battle built round him
and the bearers of the standard:
iron-clad and helmed, the free-
handed one hastened to war.”

“Later the Wends took flight, hiding themselves away in various forts and castles, but the Danes sought them out and fought and killed many of them, as Markus says:

The host of the heathen
held there forts: the marchers
sped there, sprinted
to the slaughter: standards
blew in the breeze about the bold
Eirik in battle, the brands
beat out the song, spearmen
slept in warm piles.
Soaked in blood that sprayed
over the shield-wall. slaughtered
they lath, a multitude, mangy
a mailcoat smashed,
as the young warrior waded
into war, weapons clashing,
his force and his fame
enhanced in the fighting.”

“Once King Eirik had made such a fierce onslaught upon those of the heathens who had retired to the castles and fortresses, they saw that their best hope would be to surrender, to place themselves in King Eirik’s hands and expose themselves to his authority, as Markus says:

The company of heathen sought
escape from the old castle;
those defenders of the fortress
were forced to surrender.”

A digitally enhanced picture of the strapping philanderer

“The slaughter was on such a scale that no one knew how many had been killed. The emperor’s brother-in-law Bjorn had died there with most of his men. King Eirik seized a great deal of money as war booty but would take none of it for himself, and divided it all amongst his troops. He had settlements all over the country burnt to the ground, and though the heathen fled away in terror, many were subjected to severe punishment, particularly those who had broken their allegiance to King Eirik, as Markus says:

The hearts of the heathen
were heavy in Wendish homelands:
flames blazed about their forces
as King Eirik set fire
to their homes and their houses,
and their halls sank in ruin,
Night fell, and the flames
seemed to finger high heaven.”

“So it came about, as Markus says, that in this warfare and unrest many lost their lives by fire and sword, but some who had the opportunity escaped. These men sought urgently to meet King Eirik, who imposed heavy fines on them. claiming as his own inherited possession that part of Wendland the Danish Kings had controlled since King Svein Forkbeard [see Section 6 above] had conquered it. As Markus says:

Upraised was King Eirik;
they ran. the ruthless Wends,
promised him payment,
deprived of victory:
the king laid claim,
the commons obeyed him:
much loved, he ruled lands
that once lay under Svein.”

“After that, King Eirik appointed men to take charge of the defences in Wendland, and they held that province under his rule. Then the king went to his ships and sailed victoriously back to Denmark from Wendland, calling in first at Oeland, as Markus says:

He set his ships
against the surf-beaten shore,
the rain-swept strand
he surrounded with ranged
spear-points and shields,
he plundered their shores,
isolated the Isle-Danes
with war-crimsoned arms.”

“Later, King Eirik settled down quietly in his kingdom, enjoying the fame this expedition brought him.”

Section 78
King Eirik’s Son

“King Eirik had taken captive, as the spoils of war, the Lady Bothild, sister of the Emperor Heinrek, who had given her in marriage to Bjorn in Wendland as we said earlier. The king took the lady Bothild home with him to Denmark and had a son by her called after King Knut, the king’s brother. At an early age he appeared both handsome and talented. When the boy was still quite young, King Eirik had a word with the Lady Bothild…”

[note: this was prince Knut Lavard (1096 – 1131); Lady Bothild is Boedil (Bodil) Turgotsdotter (? – 1103) – her father was Ulv Galiciefarer or Earl Ulf discussed above]

Section 88
Lord Knut Marries

“At that time the king east in Novgorod was Harald, son of King Valdimar, son of Jaroslav, son of Valdimar who was foster father to King Olaf Tryggvason. King Harald’s mother was Gyda, daughter of King Harald Godwinson of England. King Harald was married to Kristin, daughter of King Ingi Steinkelsson of Sweden and sister to Queen Margret who at that time was married to King Nikulas of Denmark. The daughter of King Harald of Novgorod and his wife Kristin were Malmfrid, who married King Sigurd the Crusader of Norway, and Engilborg.”

“After Vidgaut had stayed over winter on the friendliest of terms with the duke, Lord Knut asks him to go on a mission east to Novgorod and ask on his behalf for the hand of Engilborg, King Harald’s daughter…”

Meanwhile in Novgorod

“…When Vidgaut was ready, he set sail with his companions and nothing is said of his travels until he came east to Novgorod, met King Harald, and got himself into the king’s good graces by offering him gifts…”

“…The duke thanked him for his labours, then made preparations for the wedding, while at the appointed time King Harald sent his daughter from Novgorod in the east with a splendid retinue. When she arrived in Denmark, the duke welcomed her warmly ,as did everyone else, and celebrated their wedding in grand style. They had a number of children, who will be mentioned later.”

Section 89
Magnus Nikulasson

“…Magnus Nikulasson married Rikiza, daughter of King Burizlav of the Wends, and their sons were Knut and Nikulas. Magnus always had a large following with him and spent most of his time at the court of his father King Nikulas, but sometimes each of them stayed at his own place. He was a strong man and matured altogether early: they called him Magnus the Strong.”

King Niels was an impeccable dresser

[note: King Nikulas is Niels of Denmark (circa 1065 – 1134) who also killed Knut Lavard; His son was Magnus (Nikulasson) I of Sweden; his wife, the daughter of King Burizlav, is Richeza of Poland or Rikissa Burislevsdotter (1116 – 1156) who was the daughter of Boleslaw III Wrymouth (1086 – 1138). This was a political marriage arranged between King Nikulas aka Niels and Boleslaw III and aimed at the Pomeranians of Wartislaw (of the Life of Otto fame). The “Knut and Nikulas” refers to Knut V Magnussen and Niels his brother]

Section 93
Lord Knut’s Children

“… When the holy Lord Knut fell, his wife Engilborg was pregnant, and that winter, while she was staying with her father King Harald east in Russia, she gave birth to a baby boy, and called him Valdimar. He was born seven days after the death of his father the holy Lord Knut. At an early age he was big and handsome, and better than others at most things. He spent his childhood east in Russia with his mother’s family, and was soon very popular with most people.”

[note: King Harald refers to Mstislav I of Kiev – see below]

Section 99
Eirik the Unforgotten

“After the death of King Nikulas, Eirik Eirksson was made king over the whole of Denmark, in accordance with the will and approval of the people. He was a strong ruler, and punished severely all those with whom he thought he had a score to settle: most of all, he was so ruthless towards those who had been on friendly terms with King Nikulas and his son Magnus, they thought they could scarcely live under his rule, and many considered that it would be a log time before they forgot his ruthlessness, so he was called Eirik the Unforgotten. He married Queen Malmfrid, daughter of King Harald, son of Valdimar, son of Jaroslav of Novgorod in the east: Malmfrid was sister to Engilborg who had married Eirik’s brother, Lord Knut, and previously she had been the wife of King Sigurd the Crusader of Norway.”

[note: This is Erik II Emune (circa 1090 – 1137) was the son of Erik the Good; his wife was actually Malmfred of Kiev who was the daughter of Mstislav of Kiev (but who reigned in Novgorod the Great from 1088–93) and Kristina Ingesdotter of Sweden. Mstislav is referred to as Harald after his grandfather. Specifically, Mstislav was the son of Vladimir II Monomakh and Gyda Haraldsdatter of Wessex. Vladimir II (or “Valdimar” as above) was the son of Vsevolod I whose father was Yaroslav the Wise. Therefore, it seems that the “Jaroslav” above refers to “Valdimar”‘s grandfather. Gyda was the daughter of Harold II Godwinson (his father being Godwin, Earl of Wessex who is discussed above)]

Section 101
King Eirik in Wendland

[For this section, see here]

Section 104
King Eirik the Wise

“At that time there were many people in Denmark descended from kings, and most of them were little more than boys. They all thought they stood close to the throne, but the nobles failed to agree, some wanting to give their support and others speaking against it, as always happens when people are at odds over something.”

“By that time Valdimar, son of Lord Knut, had arrived in Denmark. He was eight years old when his uncle Eirik the Unforgotten was killed.”

“The son of Eirik the Unforgotten was called Svein, and Knut was the name of the son of Magnus Nikulason the Strong: Knut’s mother was Rikiza, daughter of Burizlav, king of the Wends. Olaf was the name of the son of Harald Kesja, and his mother was Ragnhild, daughter of King Magnus Bare-legs of Norway.”

Svein’s infamous “Wag of the Finger” at the Bloodfeast of Roskilde

“These were all promising young men, but because King Nikulas and Eirik the Unforgotten had been so unpopular, people were reluctant to serve their offspring, and it was the stated wish of most men to make Valdimar Knutsson king owing to his father’s popularity. But because he was so young, it was agreed wiuththe consent of his mother and various friends that Eirik the Lamb should be made king. He was to take charge of the kingdom and look after it until Valdimar was old enough to take over. Eirik Lamb was an intelligent man and well-liked by the Danes, who called him Eirik the Wise.”

[note: After the abdication of Eric III Lamb in 1146 a civil war erupted with multiple claimants to the throne and Valdimar emerged victorious. The Knut above refers to Knut V (1129 – 1157 – killed at the “Bloodfeast of Roskilde” by Svein’s men). Svein refers to Svein III Grathe (circa 1125 – 1157). Valdimar Knutsson or Valdemar I (the Great) of Denmark (1131 – 1182) was the son of Knut Lavard. Valdimar survived Svein’s Bloodfeast of Roskilde and then killed Svein at the Battle of Grathe Heath – more on that civil war below]

Section 108
Crusaders

“About this time Jerusalem was captured by the infidel and messages came from Pope Eugenius that men should take up the cross for a journey to Jerusalem to battle agains the infidel. On that Crusade the Emperor Konrad died.”

“When the news of this reached Denmark, both kings wanted to join the Crusade… both kings went to Dubbin, King Knut arriving first at Wismar harbor, then King Svein, the men of Fy, the Zealanders, the Hallanders and the men of Skaane. Men came from Germany too, wishing to fight against the infidel for the sake of God.”

“…Following the winter he spent on Zealand, as we said before, King Svein levied troops in the spring and led them to Jutland against King Knut, accompanied by Valdimar. King Knut was in Hedeby at the time, and when he heard about King Svein he gathered forces in Jutland. They met in battle at Viborg, and King Svein and Valdimar gained the victory, while King Knut fled, first to Aalborg, then north to Kungaelv in Norway, and finally to up to Lodose. In Goetaland he met his stepfather Sorkvir Karlsson who had married Rikiza, King Knut’s mother, and asked him for troops. King Sorkvir offered him a province in Sweden enough to maintain his style of living, while he himself would take over King Knut’s province in Denmark, but King Knut would not hear of it.”

“Next, King Knut travelled east to Russia and back again, then south to Rostock to his maternal uncles but they were afraid that he wanted to take their country from them and refused to let him stay…”

[note: it’s not clear who these maternal uncles would have been; presumably the siblings of “Rikiza” or sons of Boleslaw III who divided his country up; Rostock was not part of Poland albeit the then various Polish princes made claims on Pomerania which had become a Polish fiefdom under Boleslaw III and which, technically, was supposed to continue as such subject to the rule of the Duke of Cracow. Rostock, in the land of the Obodrites, though was just a port of landing as it was too far West for any Pomeranian claims]

“…King Knut returned again to Saxony and stayed there for a short while, then travelled to Friesland where he presented each man with half an ortog in weight from the tribune they were supposed to pay the King of Denmark, so that they would support him against King Svein. They agreed to do so, and built a large stronghold by the River Mildin which they called Mildinborg.”

“When King Svein heard about this he gathered forces at once and set out for Hedeby. He had a fleet, and had his ships portaged from Slette to Hollingsted in Friesland. A great battle had to be fought there before he was able to win Mildinborg, with slaughter on such a scale that men walked across the River Milden on human bodies without wetting their feet. King Svein won the victory and yet again King Knut fled sough to Saxony to Duke Heinrek in Brunswick, where he stayed a while.”

Section 109
A Peace Settlement

“…they reached agreement, on the understanding that Valdimar would be free of obligations to King Svein were Svein to break the terms of the settlement. This peace-meeting was held at Viborg.”

“After that, King Svein gave his half-sister Suffia, daughter of King Valadar of Poland, in marriage to Valdemar. He also gave Valdimar a third of his possessions, for the sake of friendship and harmony.”

Sofia of Minsk – current status. (Note the perfect teeth)

[note: this is Sophia of Minsk – she was the daughter of Richeza of Poland. Richeza was first married to Magnus the Strong and gave birth to Knut V. Magnus and his father were killed in battles against Eric II Emune (who was half brother to Knut Lavard – who was murdered by Niklas and Magnus) and his helpers from the Holy Roman Empire. Thereafter, Richiza apparently returned to Poland (seemingly leaving her sons in Denmark). Boleslaw III was still alive and arranged another marriage with Volodar Glebovich [?] of Minsk [or of Novgorod?]. From this marriage she had a daughter (Sophia of Minsk) and two sons. She again returned to Poland in 1145 (leaving the sons behind but taking the daughter). In 1148 Richeza married the recently widowed Sverker I of Sweden. Sophia went with her to Sweden and was raised at the Swedish court. Later she married Valdimar I (of Absalon/Arkona fame). However, she was really Knut V’s half-sister – not Svein’s. Also she was the daughter of Volodar of Minsk [?] not Valadar of Poland]

“Valdimar had an illegitimate son called Kristoforus: his mother was called Tofa.”

[note: in Danish ballads, Sophia is typically described as a beautiful shrew and is said to have murdered Valdimar’s mistress – Tove (aka Tofa). Kristoforus is Christopher, Duke of Schleswig. As a point of interest, Volodar never remarried, stayed in Minsk (or Novgorod?) and apparently outlived the entire Danish/Swedish crew (except his daughter Sophia) dying around 1186 (Sophia died in 1198)]

Section 110
Treachery

“King Svein raised a levy for an expedition abroad the winter following the agreement with King Knut and Valdimar, with the intention of attacking Sweden. He sent word to King Knut and Valdimar for them to come with him but they refused, since Sorkvir King of the Swedes was married to Rikiza, the mother of King Knut and Suffia…”

Kalvslunde?

“…Next morning King Svein fought the Wends at Kalvslunde where he won the victory and killed a great number of men. All that year the agreement lasted between King Svein and King Knut.”

Section 111
King Valdimar

“…After King Svein had been in Saxony a short while, he got tired of it and went from there to Wendland, where he paid the Wends to ferry him over to Fyn. When King Knut and Valdimar heard this, they immediately levied troops for an expedition and crossed to Fyn…”

[note: this, again, is Svein III Grathe]

Section 115
Absalon

“…That same evening, six hundred Wendish ships were wrecked off the Jolu Isles.”

Section 119
Expeditions to Wendland

“After the battle [of Grathe Heath in 1157] King Valdimar became sole ruler of all Denmark, with the approval of the chief men of the kingdom. He was the most popular of kings. These things took place nine years after the death of King Eirik the Wise and one year after the killing of King Knut Magnusson. About that time Ozur, Bishop of Roskilde, died and Absalon, Asbjorn Snare’s brother, was ordained bishop in his place. Absalon was a remarkable cleric and a shrewd man, and later he was to become a great chieftain.”

“In the winter following the battle on Grath Heath, King Valdimar sent word throughout his kingdom that he meant to levy troops for an expedition abroad in the spring, to go to Wendland and, God willing, convert it to Christianity. Many people of importance decided to join the king in this expedition: first of all there was Archbishop Askel, and Bishop Absalon of Roskilde, one of the greatest warriors ever to be born in Denmark, then there was King Valdimar’s [illegitimate by Tove] son Kristoforus, Gvenmar Ketilsson, Peter Stretch, Bishop Absalon’s brother Asbjorn Snare, and Ingimar. This whole army came together in the lee of the island of Mon, south of Zealand.”

“They ran into a strong head wind and lay there at anchor until they had only seven days of provisions left for the entire army. Then King Valdimar called his counsellors together ago consult them about what should be done, and Bishop Absalon gave this reply.”

“‘Yesterday there was sailing weather’ he said, ‘and the day before that it was quite good enough to set out but you lay at anchor and wouldn’t make a move. If you want to sit quietly by when there’s sailing weather and make no move till things are perfect, you’re not fit for this kind of work and you might as well take your troops back home.'”

“The king was furious at these words of sharp criticism and said he was not turning back while he had anything to feed his troops with. Next morning, the king ordered them to put out to sea, and they began rowing against a raging gale. The king was aboard a fast sailing ship with Archbishop Askel but it broke up in the storm and King Valdimar flung himself with sword and banner aboard Ingimar’s ship, which people thought a remarkable feat. All the men were rescued but the cargo was lost.”

“They sailed to Hiddensee where the king went aboard Bishop Absalon’s shop and lay down to sleep, but sent Gvenmar Ketilsson ashore in the evening to spy out the land. He managed to capture the Wends’ lookout, then went back and met the king there n the fjord south of Hiddensee, where he told the king he had taken the Wends’ lookout-men captive. Later they reached Wendland close to a large river and divided the troops for the landing; the king led a party on one side of the river, and Bishop Absalon on the other, but neither knew what the other was doing. They burned down settlements over a wide area on both sides of the river and then went baclkto their ships, loading sixty of them with the booty they had taken in the raid. After that, King Valdimar went home to his own country and stayed there the following winter.”

“In the spring, King Ingi of Norway sent a fine dragon-headed warship as a gift to King Valdimar. That summer King Valdimar sailed once more to Wendland and the dragon-ship was damaged. They sailed up the Warnow River and fought against a Wendish leader called Mjuklat, whose son Fridleif had been taken prisoner by the Danes on an earlier expedition and stayed on with the king, and become a Christian. The battle took place at a town called Urk, where King Valdimar gained victory and Mjuklat was killed after fleeing the battlefield. The Danes took his head and impaled it on a certain tree near the town.”

[note: These wars were preceded by the Wendish Crusade of 1147. Mjuklat or Miklo refers to the Obodrite duke Niklot who died in 1160 killed by Bernhad (of Ratzeburg?) at the Battle of Orle/Wurle (during the Obodrite war against both Danes and Germans). Niklot tried to quit the German/Danish world (Mjuxit?) but, then as now, what one wants is not always what one gets. His son (or one of three) was Pribislav (aka Fridleif?) who became the founder of the Mecklemburgian dynasty]

“King Valdimar went back to his ship and asked which of the chieftains was brave enough to ride to Brunswick and deliver a message from him to the Emperor Konrad’s son, Duke Heinrek – he was married to a daughter of King Henry of England and their sons were the Emperor Otto, the Count Palatine Henry, and William the Stout: their daughter was Gertrud.”

[note: “Duke Heinrek” actually refers to Henry the Lion whose spouse was Matilda of England, daughter of Henry II of England]

Henry the Lion – in an actual 12th century photograph

“Not many were keen to go on this journey, since there were few indeed who wanted to travel through Wendland, straight into the hands of their enemies. Bishop Absalon, however, offered to undertake this mission for the king, and the king agreed. The bishop travelled in a party of sixty men, taking Fridleif Mjuklatsson along with him as a guide. They rode past the town where the head of Mjuklat was impaled, and when he saw it, Fridleif wept but said he could have expected things to turn out this way since his father would not serve the true God. They came to Duke Heinrek, and he gave them a good welcome. After they had stayed with him for a time and copleted their mission, they started back. The duke offered troops to go with them but the bishop said that was unnecessary. They rode off from Brunswick early in the morning, all wearing their armour, and pressed on till they came to an open plain, where they suspected that forces were being gathered in the neighborhood. It was then that Fridleif spoke up and said this was where his father had been killed.”

“‘And if you’re caught’ he said, ‘you Danes will suffer the same treatment that you gave him. The best thing now for every one of us is to sell his life as dearly as he can.'”

“The bishop thanked him for what he had said, adding that he had spoken like a man. They rode singing through the settlements that day and showed no trace of fear. When the local people saw them traveling they thought these must be the duke’s men riding so cheerful, and so the bishop’s party got back safe and sound to the ships, where the king sat reading the psalms happy to see the bishop and his men.”

Section 120
Ravaging in Wendland

“In the morning the king sailed east along the coast of Wendland to the River Svold, where the Wends lay with a large fleet but fled the moment they sighted the Danish sailed. The king laid course to Byr, and sent his son Kristoforus to burn down a part of Wendland called Valong, but told him not to ride off until the whole army was aspire. Kristoforus and his men were rather too keen to get on with the burning and when the Wends aboard those ships that had previously fled saw the flames, they began rowing at high speed hopping to take the Danes by surprise. But then they saw King Valdimar coming up with some of his troops and raced off once again as fast as they could so that the Danes were unable to cause them any damage.”

“The Danes made for harbor and put up the awnings. When the king’s ship had been covered, Archbishop Askel walked up to them. “

“‘You Danes are fast workers’ he said, ‘burying your men before they’re dead.'”

“The king asked him why he spoke like that.”

“‘I can see well be lying here for a long time amongst isles and offshore skerries’ he said, ‘before we can win a victory to equal the one we’ve just missed out of sheer hot-headedness. Speed and sense are rare companions.'”

“Egged on by the archbishop, they went down to the ships, rowed across a river there, then charged ashore on horseback and burnt down everything in the district that lies behind Strele. They spent the night there and next morning went to Valong, where they set the whole place ablaze. After that they meant to go back home, but the following night the Rugeners came looking for them at Masnes, people who inhabit a place in Wendland called Rugen, a large and powerful province. Their leader was called Domabur. He talked about a settlement with the Danes, so the archbishop asked them to put themselves in King Valdimar’s hands and arrange to give him hostages. Then Domabur offered the archbishop some advice.”

[note: as per Baltische Studien, Volume 1, Valong is probably the area around Schaprode on Ruegen (see Saxo’s Walungiam navigatum; see also reference to quartam mansionem in Wollungh que dicitur Szabroda); It’s not clear what Masnes refers to. Saxo mentions an island off of Warnow called Masneta; Domabur was the leader of the Rani]

“‘You’re a young man’ he said, ‘ and you’ve only a vague notion of how things were done in the past. Don’t ask us for hostages and don’t plunder our country: it’s better that you should go back home and keep peace with us till your own lands are as well-populated as ours are now. A great deal of your land lies barren and empty. Peace will suit you better than war.'”

“‘I’m sure King Valdimar will be keen to follow your advice’ replied the archbishop, ‘and it’s much to my own liking. Now go home’ he said, ‘and tell the Rugeners that we won’t expect any hostages until they offer them.'”

Rugia oldest (?) map (early 16th century)

“After that, Domabur went home and King Valdimar brought his troops into a harbor in Rugen called Schaprode then marched them all ashore to a place called Arkona which had been taken by Eirik the Unforgotten, as was told earlier in this book. There the Rugeners faced King Valdimar with a countless army of men, and fought a battle which Valdimar won, killing three hundred thousand of the Rugeners while the survivors fled for their lives. Next the Danes went to Hiddensee. While they were there, the Rugeners came and gave them four hostages, agreeing to accept all their conditions. After this success, King Valdimar returned home to his kingdom.”

[note: Schaprode is Schaprode on the northwest side of Ruegen]

“On his next seafaring expedition, King Valdimar went to Strele. There, Absalon rode inland and held a meeting with the farmers, telling them to go with the king to Wolgast and provide him with support. The Rugeners did as he asked and went wight he king in large numbers, sailing to Kuaviz. There the men of Wolgast came to meet them, handed over hostages, and pledged their allegiance. After that the army went back home.”

[note: Strele presumably refers to somewhere around Stralsund; Kuaviz?]

“On his next seafaring expedition King Valdimar went to Gronsund, as the Rugeners wanted to break the agreement they had made with him earlier. By then, they had submitted to Duke Heinrek of Brunswick and handed over hostages to him since he had laid claim to the whole of Wolgast and also plundered in Rugen. When the Rugeners learnt that King Valdimar had arrived in Gronsund with the intention of attacking them, they went to meet him and surrendered themselves yet again into his power, after which King Valdimar returned home.”

“When Duke Heinrek heard about this, he accused the king of having taken hostages from Wolgast and attacked the inhabitants of Rugen, who were, he said, his own subjects. He sent envoys to King Valdimar demanding compensation for the damage he had done his land, otherwise he threatened to take revenge and lead an army against Denmark.”

Ortelius map (late 16th century)

“While the envoys were on this journey the East Wends raised an unbeatable army and attacked that part of Wendland belonging to the duke, burning it and killing all the people in it. Duke Heinrek blamed Bishop Absalon for this affair, though he was not responsible for it. When the duke learned the truth about it, he immediately sent envoys north again to Denmark to see King Valdimar and seek reconciliation offering to join him on an expedition to Wend land, to which King Valdimar agreed since the men of Wolgast had once again broken their agreement with him.”

“Next spring, King Valdimar of Denmark and Duke Heinrek of Saxony levied an army and attacked Wendland. The duke brought his troops to a place called Demmin and laid siege to a town there. The native people gathered together to defend their land and one night their horsemen attacked the duke’s forces and killed two of his counts, one called Adalbrikt and the other Heinrek, as well as many other men of rank. Four hundred and fifty of the duke’s men were killed and many wounded, while those who were able to get away fled. The Wends hunted them down for a short distance, then came bad to the battlefield to rob the dead of their weapons and clothes. When it began to grow light and the Germans saw what the Wends were up to, they rode back and fought and routed them. Duke Heinrek took the town and killed an uncounted number of Wends. In the next round of fighting King Valdimar led his troops to Wolgast and laid siege to the town, but the townsmen sued the King peace, surrendered themselves into his power and handed over hostages to him. Next night they fled from the town without the king knowing.”

“When King Valdimar realised this, he put the town in charge of his men and went himself to a certain river crossed by a bridge known as Dunzar Bridge. Next morning Duke Heinrel came from Grozvin and immediately joined King Valdimar aboard ship, amazed at the speed with which the king and his men could sail the distance. On that occasion, everything was very friendly between them and King Valdimar proposed a marriage alliance with the duke on his son’s behalf which the duke agreed to, so they betrothed their children to one another though they were still in the cradle. The boy, King Valdimar’s son, was called Knut, and the girl, Lady Gertrud.”

“In the morning, King Valdimar rowed to Stolpe, while Heinrek went to Demmin and leveled and burnt the whole town. Next King Valdimar went back to the bridge, where Kassamar, who was then a lord in Wendland, came and handed over hostages to him and became his liege. King Valdimar gave him tho thirds of Wolgast to defend and one third to the Rugeners. Then the king went to Strele to consult with his troops, and gave the title of king to his son Knut, who was then a year old, with the approval of Bishop Absalon and other leaders. After that, King Valdimar went back to Denmark.”

[note: Kassamar is Casimir (Kasimir) I (circa 1130 – 1180) of Pomerania-Demmin (son of Wartislaw of, as above, the Life of Otto fame and brother to Bogislaw I (circa 1130 – 1187) Duke of Pomerania); Demmin is the German town of Demmin – ironically, it may have been named after “dym”, i.e., smoke in the Polabian language; sadly, during World War II, it was also the site of a mass suicide by inhabitants right before the Red Army took the town; Stolpe is, probably, the Polish Słupsk]

“On his next seafaring expedition King Valdimar went first to Rugen, then to Valong which he set ablaze. Once again Bishop Absalon and the Isle Danes were the swiftest travelers, so they and to wait seven days for the king at Hiddensee and then went back home.”

Section 121
Plundering in Wendland

[For this section, see here]

Section 122
Pagan Idols in Wendland

[For this section, see here]

Section 123
Fighting Against Wends and Cours

“During King Valdimar’s lifetime, eleven churches were built in Rugen, all consecrated by Bishop Absalon. The see [that is the church “see”] is at a place called Usedom, and there are now one hundred and thirty churches in that diocese. After Rugen became Christian King Valdimar went on no more military expeditions, but the money King Valdimar extracted from the Rugeners there caused dissension between the King of Denmark and Duke Heinrek, who claimed that Rugen was his territory and the money belonged to him. So he ordered the East Wends to go plundering in Denmark. When King Valdimar heard about this he told his son Kristoforus and Bishop Absalon to defend the country, but not wishing to make their stand within the kingdom itself, they ordered a levy of one ship from each district of Denmark for an expedition abroad.”

“When they were at sea in their warships, they heard that the Cours had taken their troops by sea and attacked Blekinge. Though they were not sure that this was true, they decided something would have to be done, and the plan they adopted was that Kristoforus, Bishop Absalon and Asbjorn should set out in that direction and sail to Oeland, where they seized both goods and men. When they got back to their ships, they head that the Cours were at Mon, so they set free the prisoners they had taken, headed straight for where the Cours were, and came on them at a harbor called Jarnloka.”

[note: this was in 1170 – Jarnloka or jærnlukke or the harbor of “Iron Lock”? – a place on the island of Mon or Seeland?]

“When the Cours realized that troops were heading towards them they hauled their ships ashore and prepared to make a stand there. They thought these were Swedes but an old man among the Cours said they were Danes.”

“‘And it’s not a good idea to wait,’ he said.”

“At that he rowed off in his ship, but the rest of the Cours stayed behind with nine ships. Then Kristoforus and his companions came with all their men, and immediately began to attack: all the Cours were killed there and not even a single child escaped, while only two of the Danes were killed. Then the Danes took their ships and goods and brought them home, having won a great victory.”

Section 124
More Trouble With the Wends

“Around midsummer this year, the relics of Lord Knut the Saint [see above] were transported from Ringsted and once again there were sublime indications of his saintliness. Then King Knut, son of King Valdimar, was formally anointed king at the suggestion of his father and with the approval of the people of Denmark. He was then only a few years old.”

“At the same time, an agreement was made between King Valdimar and Magnus of Norway; and Erling the Squint, father of King Magnus, arrived in Denmark to meet King Valdimar at Randers, where they discussed many matters concerning the affairs of the Kings of both Norway and Denmark.”

“King Valdimar thought he had a claim to the province of Oslofjord in Norway, since at the time Valdimar had given support to Erling and Magnus from his own kingdom for the conquest of Norway, there had been a private agreement that Valdimar should acquire the east part of Oslofjord. But there was a close relationship between King Magnus and King Valdimar, King Valdimar’s mother was Engilborg, daughter of King Harald Valdimarsson, as was aid earlier, and her sister was Malmfrid, wife of King Sugurd the Crusader, their daughter being Kristin, the mother of King Magnus Erlingsson: the dealings between King Valdimar and the Norwegians are described in the Lives of the Kings of Norway. On this occasion when Erloing came to Denmark to see King Valdimar, the king gave Erling an earldom and all the domains in Norway to which the thought he had a claim, so they parted in agreement and friendship, which they preserved with goodwill for the rest of their lives.”

“In the autumn King Valdimar raised a levy for an expedition overseers, and sailed to Jomsburg and Kammin, lying to the east of Wendland. The king wanted to be out at sea but got himself into a narrow channel. Then the Danes said they had been caught in a trap, and that this was one of Bishop Absalon’s clever schemes, and it was all his fault that they were stuck in a situation from which they could not escape.”

[note: Jomsburg is on the island of Wolin; Kammin may be Kamień Pomorski near Szczecin. Kammin is named after a large stone lying in the water (it’s still there). Now, why there is another Kammin on the River Lippe is another story]

“‘Now there are troops hemming us in ashore,’ they complained to Absalon, ‘and a force of ships to seaward, and it’s happening just at the time we expected it to. All you’re concerned about is your own ambition and reputation, and you always think you can get away with things. You may be a great fighting man and champion, but there’s no good reason why you should expect everything to be achieved by you, and nothing by anyone else, even though that’s the way things have been for quite some time.'”

“‘Since I’ve got you into an embarrassing situation,’ said Absalon very quietly, ‘it’s an embarrassment I’ll save you from, but I don’t want to hear any more of this. We’re supposed to have the hearts of men, not women. That’s why we mustn’t fear the future, nor complain if that future doesn’t seem too bright. My men and I will go first, and then you must follow my advice. If you see that we can escape from the channel, act fast and charge ashore with your horses, then form up and attack the troops there, and we’ll see what happens.'”

“They did as the bishop suggested. The Wends had a huge army there, both ashore and aboard ship, but before the Wendish fleet expected it the bishop rowed out towards them shouting the war-cry, at which all the ships there turned tail not daring to fight him. Those on horseback rode ashore to the town, confronted the Wends and attacked them, while Bishop Absalon, having had no trouble with the ships, came up to reinforce them. The Wends soon began to suffer heavy casualties, six thousand of them being killed by the Danes while the others either ran or, in many cases, were taken prisoner and brought down to the ships.”

“In the morning a messenger rode to them from inland and said that he wanted to negotiate a peace for the natives, but he was trying them out with lies and treachery. Bishop Absalon had him taken and the truth forced out of him. He was held by the bishop for four days and then his son redeemed him with one hundred marks of silver. After that, the Danes sailed home.”

“Bishop Absalon travelled north to Oresund and seven days before the Feast of All Hallows he stopped at Hyljuminni with six ships, three of them beached and three lying in estuary. Early in the morning while the bishop was singing Matins nine Wendish ships, all very large, came up and immediately began to attack them, but were chased off after a short skirmish. The Danes captured one of their ships, but eight of them got away. After that the bishop continued his journey home, arriving there seven days later.”

The Spalatin Chronicle shows how it was done (refers to earlier events but principle is the same)

“The following summer there was yet another levy for an overseas expedition. The troops were to assemble at Gronsund, where Archbishop Askel came with the men of Skaane, Bishop Absalon with the Zealanders, and Kristoforus with his own force. Then they went to Bramnes, burning everything around, where a certain Count Hyrning, a great fighting man, came to confront them with a strong force and do battle with them. However, he soon had to run, many of his men being killed and others taken prisoner. Afterwards, the Danes went to the ships and met King Valdimar at Gedeso, and told him what they had done. The Jutes were envious, saying the Zealanders got all the money and they got nothing. Next, the king went with his troops to Strele, riding up to Tribuzis and towards Tripiden, setting everything ablaze, taking the town and killing the inhabitants. After they had taken plunder there they went back home.”

[note: Tribuzis is Tribsees on the Trebel whereas the location of Tripiden (or Trippipen) is not clear and we won’t even guess as to Gedeso or Bramnes (Brunes?));

125 Absalon becomes archbishop

“…When that winter came to an end, King Valdimar raised yet another levy for an expedition overseas, and sailed to Wendland, up to Svinemuende as fas as Gorgasiam, burning everywhere. Later he went to Szczecin and besieged the town for a long time, till th townspeople surrendered into the king’s power, and gave him money for reconciliation, and hostages, after which the king returned home to his kingdom, and things stayed quiet for a while…”

“…King Valdimar heard that during the period of reconciliation and peace with the Danes, the Wends had built two fortresses at Swinemuende. This enraged King Valdimar and all the Danes, for their interpretation of it was that the Wends still planned to break the agreement. Envoys went between King Valdimar and Duke Heinrek of Brunswick, and it was agreed that they should each raise a levy and go to Wendland, where they should meet together. The duke went with his army to Demmin, while King Valdimar raised a levy yet once more from every part of Denmark and pillaged through Wolgast and Fuznon so that the whole population fled. He burnt down three towns, Fuznon, Vinborg and Fuir. Again, envoys went between King Valdimar and Duke Heinrek arranging that stye should meet at Grozvin: but though King Valdimar kept the appointment at the place where they had agreed to meet, the duke failed to appear.”

“Later, King Valdimar laid siege to a town called Gutznow, besieging it overnight and burning it the following night after which he went to his ships and departed in warlike fashion. Then King Valdimar headed for Swinemuende and sailed out to sea, but the two fortresses built by the Wends had been completely demolished by the river in spate over the winter, so then the king sailed home.”

[note: Gutznow is probably Gützkow; Swinemuende is, of course, Świnoujście; Grozvin (or Grozum) seems to be a region of Pomerania (compare Grozon, France!); Fuznon was probably on or a reference to Uznam or Usedom; the others we will not guess at]

126 Another expedition to Wendland

“…When the winter was over, King Valdimar raised a levy throughout Denmark and the troops assembled at Gronsund: but King Valdimar would go no further himself, ordering the men to be obedient to his son Knut, and to Archbishop Absalon as his appointed commander, for he would not leave the country.”

“So they went to Wolgast and set everything ablaze there, then they went to Usedom and burnt everything, the town itself and all its buildings. After that, Burizlav and a duke in East Wendland called Kassamar came to meet King Knut and Archbishop Absalon asking for mercy, handing over hostages from all their territories, and giving the king fifteen hundred marks and the archbishop five hundred in order that the settlement the Wends had made earlier with King Valdimar should stand, even though the Wends themselves had broken it. They promised to keep the peace with all territories which the king did not wish them to plunder. King Knut and the archbishop came back only nine days after they had left and met King Valdimar on Mon, telling him what had happened on their travels and delivering both money and hostages. He was astonished at the speed of their journey, and thanked them for undertaking his expedition.”

[note: here “Burizlav” is probably Bogislaw I whereas Kassamar is his brother Casimir I; the “East” versus “West” Wends appears to refer to the division of Slavic Pomerania (in 1155) between the brothers with Bogislaw being the duke in the East (at Szczecin) and Casimir in the West (at Demmin). The saga has this reversed seemingly although the split is correct below]

Section 127
King Valdimar’s Death

“After that five years passed without a levy being raised, and during this peaceful interval the Wends built towns, castles and a good many forts on their country for the purpose of defense. When Valdimar was told this he realised that the Wends would observe the present agreement not better than those that had gone before, so early in the spring he raised a levy for an expedition overseas, but when the troops assembled at Gronsund, King Valdimar was taken ill. He spoke to his men, ordering them to carry on with ethe expedition as before and appointed his son King Knut and Archbishop Absalon commanders of the army, but they refused to leave him until they knew what turn his illness might take: so with the agreement of Archbishop Absalon, King Knut gave all the troops leave to return home.”

“King Valdimar died of this illness on the sixth of May. His body was taken to Ringsted and there he was buried, deeply mourned by the people throughout the whole of Denmark. He had by then been sole ruler of all Denmark for twenty-six years and had fought twenty-eight battles in heathen lands. He had fought tin heathen men all his life, eager to defend God’s Christian faith.”

“King Valdimar and Queen Suffia had these children: King Knut and Valdimar the Old who later became King of Denmark and was one of the most renowned kings here in Northern Europe. Olaf Thordarson stayed with him, acquieiring much learning from him, and had a great many remarkable stories from him to tell. King Valdimar Knutsson’s daughter Engilborg married King Philip of France, father of King Louis of France, who conquered Damiette. Another daughter of King Valdimar was Rikiza, who married Eirik Knutssson, King of the Swedes, their children were King Eirik of Sweden and Engilborg, who married Earl Birgir of Sweden, and whose children were valdimar, King of the Swedes, Eirik, and Rikiza who married kIng Hakon the Young of Norway. King Valdimar’s third daughter married Wilhelm the Stout son of Duke Heinrek of Brunswick, brother of the Emperor Otto. Duke Kristoforus was the son of King Valdimar and Tofa, as was said earlier. He was illegitimate and died ten years before his father King Valdimar.”

[note: this is Knut VI Valdemarsøn]

Section 128
King Knut Valdimarsson

“After the death of King Valdimar Knutsson, his son Knut assumed power over the whole of Denmark, and all the Danes gave him their allegiance. When the Emperor Fridrek was told that King Valdimar had died, he dispatched envoys at once to King Knut asking him to become his liege and hold Denmark on his behalf. King Knut consulted with Archbishop Absalon and other advisers on how he should answer this. They recommended him to give a mild reply and say that although the emperor could easily give him so much power that he would become his liege, for Denmark’s sake he could not do this. With this reply from King Knut the emperor’s envoys returned home.”

Knut VI was perpetually angry

“When these envoys were making their journey, Burizlav of Wendland sent his representative, Prida to the emperor with his greeting, promising that within not more than a year he would see to it that the King of Denmark became the emperor’s liege. The emperor thanked him for his words: he embraced the envoy and gave him a fine horse, a coat of mail, a shield, helmet and full set of weapons, as well as excellent furs and clothing. Then he gave him leave to return home and bade him tell the emperor’s dearest friend and liege Duke Burizlav to honour faithfully all the promises he had made him.”

“After that, Burizlav levied a great army meaning to go to Rugen and lay that region under his rule, but when the Rugeners heard this, Jarismar sent envoys to Archbishop Absalon telling him that the East Wends had mobilized a great army and were only waiting for the West Wends before attacking the Rugeners. He asked the archbishop to support them if he wanted to retain his grip on their country: the archbishop told him to make a brave stand, and he would come and help them.”

[note: for more of the Pomeranian-Rugian squabbles, see, for example, here]

“Then the archbishop raised a levy and sailed to Wendland against Burizlav, who had five hundred ships but was still waiting for the West Wends. When the archbishop confronted Burizlav a fierce battle took place with the outcome that Burizlav fled with fifty of his ships, but the archbishop and his men captured all the others. Some of the crews aboard them got ashore and some were drowned abut most were slaughtered. This battle took place in the spring, about Whitsuntide. Afterwards the Danes divided up the plunder and went back home.”

[note: here Burizlav is correctly (if implicitly) associated with the East Wends]

Section 129
Wendland Subdued

“That same summer, King Knut raised a levy from Denmark. First he went to Rugen and ordered the people there to go with him to Wolgast. Many of them joined King Knut and he next went to Wolgast where he plundered and burnt all around. They besieged the town for some time. Archbishop Absalon went ashore with his men and set ablaze two towns which had been built on the road into Swinemuende, then when he had destroyed them he went back to the king.”

“Next Burizlav arrived in the country, and sent men to the archbishop to arrange a meeting. The archbishop was aboard his ships, but Burislaf planned to betray him at the meeting thinking that once he was dead all would be won. He asked him to come ashore for a talk saying that he would guided but he archbishop’s foresight when making his agreement with King Knut, nut the archbishop would not go ashore, suspecting that Burizlav had some trick in mind, as was indeed the case, so there was no meeting. Burizlav had saved his town, however, by having supplies carried into it while the discussions with the Danes were taking place. On Saint Peter’s Day, King Knut made an assault on the town but fought without being able to capture it, so he took things easy there for six days, then went away as most of his provisions had been used up. Then Wends came in pursuit, killing nearly sixty Danes, and after that King Knut took all his troops back home.”

19th century (Gerson) version of the Christianization of Pomerania

“That autumn, King Knut raised a levy for an overseas expedition seven days before Michaelmas, and sailed to Rugen. From there he took a large force to Tribuzis and from there up to Tripipen, where he plundered and burnt throughout the district. He rode to their market town and burnt it, and all the forces of King Knut assembled there, staying for three days, while their ships lay off Strele. Next morning they went over to Tikarey with the idea of destroying Voztroza but the wind was in the wrong direction so they were unable to burn it down.”

[note: Voztroza nowadays has a very German name]

“Burislaf heard about this and set sail with two ships, wanting to make a settlement with King Knut, though it was treachery he had in mind, but as King Knut was short of provisions to feed his army he went back home to Denmark.”

“In the spring, King Knut raised a levy in Denmark for an overseas expedition, this time in the company of Archbishop Absalon, Bishop Asbjorn, and many other leading men. They had a large army and sailed to Wolgast where they burnt their way up both banks of the river as far as Kammin, setting the whole country ablaze. King Burizlav had narrow escape, leaping from his horse’s back over a fence and so getting into the town just as King Knut and Archbishop Absalon came riding up. Burizlav beckoned them over, asking for a truce and a chance to talk to them, but they told him that if he wanted message delivered to them, he should send envoys. When his envoys came to Bishop Asbjorn they asked him to plead with the king and the archbishop on his behalf, to allow him to leave the town and talk to them. The envoys said they wanted to have an honest talk, adding that they were more trustworthy that him. Burizlav‘s message was that he was eager to keep his word, and asked them to arrange a meeting between himself and the king, a meeting that he would attend in three days time. King Knut said he would agree to the appointment with him, but that meanwhile he planned to devastate the area as he had always intended, including the farms near the town. Burizlaf told the king he must burn whatever he wished, but said he still wanted to meeting with the king, and asked him to spare their farms and minsters.”

“Then women came from the farms and fell at the king’s feet, begging him not to burn their farms, and the king granted their wish. After that the king went to burn inland, and spent the night setting fire to everything, after which, in the morning, he went back to the ships. Then Burizlav came to King Knut and the archbishop asking them for mercy, handing over as hostages to the king the sons of the best men in the land, and gave the king three hundred marks and the bishop eight hundred. With that, King Knut assumed power and protection over the whole of Wendland, and then went back home to Denmark.”

Section 130
The Death of Burizlav

“In the spring before Easter, Burizlav came to see King Knut at Roskilde and stayed with him o e very best of terms over Easter, acting as the king’s sword-bearer. When he left to return home, King Knut presented him with fine gifts and they parted friends.”

“In Lent of the following year Burizlav grew ill, and sent word to his counsellors to consult with them, saying that if he recovered from his illness he would like to see King Knut, but if his fate was to be otherwise, he wanted King Knut to dispose of the country’s affairs in accordance wi the king’s wishes: also, he asked the king, for God’s sake, to grant his children friendship, and divide everything between them as he desired, for he saw that his brother Jarizmar had always benefitted from his loyalty to King Knut.”

Can you say Caminho Pomerano in Portuguese?

“During Lent, Burizlav died of his illness. Then Burizlav‘s envoys went to see King Knut telling him that Burizlav was dead, and delivering the messages he had left for King Knut asking the king to help his sons and divide everything between them as he wished. A meeting was arranged between them at Vordingborg which Nikulas and Heinrek, the sons of Burizlav, attended and King Knut divided the land between them and appointed men to watch over them.”

[note: this is unclear; if Burizlav refers to Bogislaw I (death on March 18, 1187), then his sons’ names were Casimir II and Bogislaw II]

“In consultation with Archbishop Absalon, King Knut had now appointed overseers and controllers all over Wendland, and the whole country was now in their power. In all the battles they had fought against the Wends since the death of King Valdimar Knutsson, Archnbishop ABsalon had acted as commander and as counsellor to King Knut, and had he not been there they would not have gained such victories, for he came close to being the greatest ever campaigner and warrior here in the north.”

“So ends the history of the Kings of the Danes.”

What Widukind’s “Deeds of the Saxons” Has to Say Regarding the Slavs – Part II

PublishedJune 12, 2016 Post authortorino

After this first part, here we continue with the work of Widukind of Corvey – Res Gestae Saxonicae – and its discussion of the Ottonian dynasty’s Henry I (919-936) and Otto I (936-973). Our focus, of course, is on the book’s mentions of the Slavs. This part brings together all the mentions of the Slavs from Books II and III. Again, this comes from the David and Bernard Bachrach translation.

Book II

3. Regarding the war undertaken against Boleslav.

“In the meantime, the barbarians were raging to stir up new troubles, and Boleslav killed his brother, a Christian man and, as they say, most devout in the cultivation of God. Boleslav feared having a minor prince nearby who followed the orders of the Saxons, and so waged war against him. So the latter sent a messenger to Saxony to ask for aid. Asik was dispatched to him along with the legion of Merseburgers, and a strong force of men from Hassegau. The Thuringian expeditionary levy also was added to Asik’s force. The unit from Merseburg was recruited from thieves. King Henry was quite severe with foreigners, but showed mercy to his countrymen in all cases. When he saw that a thief or highwayman was strong and syuted to war, Henry spared the man from punishment that was due, and settled him in a suburb of Merseburg. He gave them fields and arms and ordered them to spare their country men. However, they were to exercise their thievery against the barbarians as much as they dared. When a large number of men of this type had been gathered, Henry created a legion that was fully prepared to go on campaign.”

Interea barbari ad novas res moliendas desaeviunt, percussitque Bolizlav fratrem suum, virum Christianum et, ut ferunt, Dei cultura religiosissimum, timensque sibi vicinum subregulum, eo quod paruisset imperiis Saxonum, indixit ei bellum. Qui misit in Saxoniam ad expostulanda sibi auxilia. Mittitur autem ei Asic cum legione Mesaburiorum et valida manu Hassiganorum, additurque ei exercitus Thuringorum. Erat namque illa legio collecta ex latronibus. Rex quippe Heinricus cum esset satis severus extraneis, in omnibus causis erat clemens civibus; unde quemcumque videbat furum aut latronum manu fortem et bellis aptum, a debita poena ei parcebat, collocans in suburbano Mesaburiorum, datis agris atque armis, iussit civibus quidem parcere, in barbaros autem in quantum auderent latrocinia exercerent. Huiuscemodi ergo hominum collecta multitudo plenam in expeditionem produxit legionem.

“When Boleslav learned of the Saxon army and that the Saxons and Thuringians were marching against him separately, he decided, since he was a very good tactician, to divide his own forces and position them to oppose each of the armies. The Thuringians, when they saw the unsuspected approach of th enemy, avoided danger in flight. However, Asik, with his Saxons and other support troops, did not delay at all his attack on the enemy, and killed the greater part of them in battle. He forced the remainder to flee, and returned to his camp as a victor. But Asik was unaware of the army that had pursued the Thuringians, and did not use caution after his victory.”

Bolizlav autem audiens de exercitu Saxonico, et quia Saxones seorsum et seorsum Thuringi irent contra se, divisis et ipse sociis, sicuti erat acerrimus consilio, utroque exercitui occurrere disposuit. At Thuringi, ut hostes inprovise sibi occursitare viderunt, fuga periculum devitaverunt. Asic autem cum Saxonibus et caeteris auxiliariis nichil cunctatus in hostes ruit maximamque partem ex eis armis fudit, caeteros fugere conpulit, victorque ad castra reversus est. Et cum ignorasset de exercitu, qui insecutus fuerat Thuringos, minus caute usus est victoria perpetrata.

“When Boleslav saw that our army was dispersed, with some men taking spoils from the dears, and others resting, and still others busy gathering hay for their horses, he brought together in a single army the forces that had returned and those that had fled. Boleslav killed the commander [Asik] and destroyed the entire army. Then, Boleslav marched to the stronghold of the minor prince, captured it in the first assault, and turned it into a wilderness, which it remains to this day. This war lasted until the fourteenth year of the king’s reign [950]. After this point, Boleslav became a faithful and useful dependent of the king.”

Bolizlav autem videns exercitum nostrum dispersum et alios in extrahendis spoliis caesorum, alios in suis corporibus reficiendis, alios in paleis equorum congregandis occupatos, fugatum reversumque coadunans exercitum, super inprovisos ac recenti victoria securos subito irruit et ducem cum omni nostro exercitu delevit. Pergensque inde ad urbem subreguli primo eam inpetu cepit et usque in hodier num diem solitudinem fecit. Perduravitque illud bellum usque ad quartum decimum regis imperii annum; ex eo regi fidelis servus et utilis permansit.

4. Regarding the king’s campaign against the barbarian nations.

“The king was little disturbed when he received word from a messenger about what had happened. Rather, fortified by divine strength, he crossed the frontiers of the barbarians to restrain their savagery with his entire army. Otto’s father had already waged war against them because they had mistreated the legates sent by his son Thankmar, a matter that we plan to discuss more fully below. The king then decided to establish a new military commander. He chose for this office a noble, diligent, and quite prudent man named Hermann. By bestowing this office, however, Otto aroused the jealousy not only of the other commanders, but also of Hermann’s brother Wichmann. It is for this reason that Wichmann pretended some illness and left the army. Wichmann was a powerful and brave man, generous, skilled in war, and possessed of such learning that he was said by his people to have superhuman knowledge.”

Rex autem audito huiuscemodi nuntio minime turbatur, sed divina virtute roboratus cum omni exercitu intrat terminos barbarorum ad refrenandam illorum saevitiam. Datum quippe erat illis et antea a patre suo bellum, eo quod violassent legatos Thancmari filii sui, de quo in sequentibus plenius dicturos arbitramur. Placuit igniter novo regi novum principem militiae constituere. Elegitque ad hoc officium virum nobilem et industrium satisque prudentem nomine Herimannum. Quo honore non solum caeterorum principum, sed et fratris sui Wichmanni offendit invidiam. Quapropter et simulata infirmitate amovit se ab exercitu. Erat namque [71] Wichmannus vir potens et fortis, magnanimus, belli gnarus et tantae scientiae, ut a subiectis supra hominem plura nosse predicaretur.

“Hermann, who was in the front rank of the battle line, found himself in combat against the enemy as he crossed there frontier into their region. He inflicted a grave defeat on them, and, because of this, the jealousy of his enemies burned even hotter. Among them was Ekehard, the son of Liudolf. Ekehard was so enraged by Hermann’s success that he swore that he would either do something even greater, or wished to die in the attempt. So Ekehard gathered together the ablest men from the entire army and, violating the king’s orders, crossed a swamp that was located between the enemy’s stronghold and the royal encampment. He immediately attacked but, surrounded by the enemy, he died along with all of his men. Eighteen men chosen from the entire army died there with him. However, the king, after killing many of the enemy, and making the others tributaries, returned to Saxony. This happened on September twenty-fifth [936].”*

* note from translators: this was a campaign conducted in 936 against the Redarii.

Herimannus autem cum esset in prima acie, in introitu regionis in hostium pugnam incidit eosque fortiter vicit, et ob hoc maiori invidia inimicos accendit. Inter quos Ekkardus filius Liudulfi, qui in tantum aegre passus est fortunam Herimanni, ut sese promitteret maiora facturum aut vivere nolle. Unde collectis ex omni exercitu fortissimis viris interdictum regis rupit et paludem, quae erat inter urbem hostium et castra regis, cum sociis transiit, statimque hostes offendit, et ab his circumfusus cum omnibus suis periit. Erant autem qui cum eo ceciderant electorum ex omni exercitu virorum decem et octo. Rex autem caesa hostium multitudine et caeteris tributariis factis reversus est in Saxoniam. Acta sunt autem haec VII. Kalend. Octobris.

14. Again regarding the Hungarians and how they retreated with heavy losses.

“…The other part of the [Hungarian] army had been led to the north to a place called Droemling through the trickery of a certain Slav. However, discomfited by the difficult terrain, and overwhelmed by armed forces, this army was destroyed. Thew result frightened the other Hungarians. The commander of this army was captured along with a few others. He was led to the king, and then ransomed for a large price. When they learned what had happened. ,the enemy’s entire camp was thrown into confusion, and they sought safety in flight. Nor have they reappeared in Saxony for thirty years.”

[this was somewhere near the Aller and Ohre rivers, north of Helmstedt in the old pagus of Belxa – as per the editors]

Altera autem pars exercitus ad aquilonem versus et arte cuiusdam Sclavi in locum qui dicitur Thrimining deductus, difficultate locorum ac manu circumfusus armatorum periit timoremque nimium caeteris incussit. Dux autem illius exercitus cum paucis elapsus comprehenditur, et ad regem deductus pretio magno redimitur. His auditis castra hostium omnia turbata, fuga salutem quaesierunt, nec ultra per triginta annos in Saxonia apparuerunt.

20. How the barbarians sought to kill Gero, and dragged out the war for a long time.

“The barbarians were delighted by our misfortunes, and not cease their arson, murder, and devastation. They also considered cunning ways to kill Gero, whom the king had assigned to govern them. But Gero, anticipating their trickery with his own, killed almost thirty leading men of the barbarians in one night after they were drunk from wine and buried in sleep following an excellent feast.* But Gero did not have sufficient forces to fight against all of the barbarian people. Indeed, at this time, the Obodrites were rebelling, after having annihilated our army, and killed its commander named Haika. So the king often led the army in person, striking against them, inflicting substantial losses on them, and finally driving them almost to the point of complete defeat.** Nevertheless, they chose war instead of peace, putting aside all thoughts of misery in the pursuit of costly freedom.”

[* these were probably Hevellians; note the similarity to the Polish legend of the poisoning of the uncles of Popiel by that “nefarious” king at the urging of his wife.]

[** The editors think that this is “a polite way of saying that King Otto was not able to defeat the Obodrites at this time in 939]

Barbari autem labore nostro elati nusquam ab incendio, caede ac depopulatione vacabant, Geronemque, quem sibi rex prefecerat, cum dolo perimere cogitant. Ipse dolum dolo preoccupans, convivio claro delibutos ac vino sepultos ad triginta fere principum barbarorum una nocte extinxit. Sed cum non sufficeret contra omnes nationes barbarorum – eo quippe tempore et Apodriti rebellaverant, et caeso exercitu nostro ducem ipsum nomine Haicam extinxerunt, ab ipso rege saepius ductus exercitus eos laesit et in multis afflixit et in ultimam pene calamitatem perduxit. Illi vero nichilominus bellum quam pacem elegerunt, omnem miseriam carae libertati postponentes.

“They were a tough people, and able to endure hardship. Accustomed to a poor way of life, the Slavs desire those things that seem heavy burdens to us. Thre was truly a long struggle between the two sides, with lone fighting for glory and a great and broad empire, and the other fighting for liberty or against the worst kind of slavery. In those days, the Saxons were afflicted by many enemies, the Slavs from the east, the Franks from the south, the Lotharingians from the west, and the Danes and Slavs from the north. It is for this reason that the barbarians carried on the war for so long.”

Est namque huiuscemodi genus hominum durum et laboris patiens, victu levissimo assuetum, et quod nostris gravis oneris esse solet, Sclavi pro quadam voluptate ducunt. Transeunt sane dies plurimi, his pro gloria et pro magno latoque imperio, illis pro libertate ac ultima servitute varie certantibus. Multos quippe illis diebus Saxones patiebantur hostes, Sclavos ab oriente, Francos a meridie, Lotharios ab occidente, ad aquilone [85] Danos itemque Sclavos: proptereaque barbari longum trahebant certamen.

21. Regarding the Slav, who was released by King Henry.

“There was a certain Slav. released by King Henry, who by paternal right of succession was to be the lord of those people who are called the Hevelli. His name was Tugumir. Having been convinced by a great deal of money, and persuaded by the promise of even more, Tugumir agreed to betray his own land. And so acting as if he had escaped in secret, he came to the fortress of Brandenburg. He was acknowledged by the people and received as their lord. A short time later, he fulfilled his promise. For he invited his nephew, who had gained a dominant position among all of the leaders of his people, to visit him. After Tugumir captured his nephew through trickery, he killed him and delivered his fortress along with the entire region to the king.* After this was done, all of the barbarian nations up to the Oder river subjugated themselves to royal tribute in a similar manner.”

* Tugumir delivered what was to become Brandenburg to King Otto I. Note the Tugu- prefix similar to Touga of the Croats. What the prefix or the name may mean is unlear. Interestingly, Tugend is German for “virtue.”

Fuit autem quidam Sclavus a rege Heinrico relictus, qui iure gentis paterna successione dominus esset eorum qui dicuntur Heveldi, dictus Tugumir. Hic pecunia multa captus et maiori promissione persuasus professus est se prodere regionem. Unde quasi occulte elapsus venit in urbem quae dicitur Brennaburg, a populoque agnitus et ut dominus susceptus, in brevi quae promisit inplevit. Nam nepotem suum, qui ex omnibus principibus gentis supererat, ad se invitans dolo captum interfecit urbemque cum omni regione ditioni regiae tradidit. Quo facto omnes barbarae nationes usque in Oderam fluvium simili modo tributis regalibus se subiugarunt.

30. Regarding Gero, the frontier commander.

“At this time, the war against the barbarians* was raging. When the soldiers, who had enlisted in Gero’s forces, were worn down by the recent campaigns, and were receiving less in the way of pay and booty, because the tribute was not being paid, they developed a seditious hatred of Gero.* But the king always stood by Gero for the common good of the state. So it happened that the soldiers were so riled up that they turned their hatred of Gero against the king as well.”

* These “barbarians” were Slavs.

** “This was the tribute that Henry I and Otto I had imposed not he Slavic peoples living east of the Elbe river [translators].”

Eo tempore bellum barbarorum fervebat. Et cum milites ad manum Geronis presidis conscripti crebra expeditione attenuarentur et donativis vel tributariis premiis minus adiuvari possent, eo quod tributa passim negarentur, seditioso odio in Geronem exacuuntur. Rex vero ad communes utilitates rei publicae Geroni semper iuxta erat. Unde factum est, ut nimis exacerbati odia sua in ipsum quoque regem vertissent.

36. Regarding the harmony between the brothers, their manner of life and their characters

[note: the reference is to Otto I and Henry; note too that nothing is said below about Otto’s ability to write; we know from Einhard that Charlemagne never learned to write]

“…His [Otto I’s] intelligence is exceptional. For after the death of Queen Edith [January 946], he learned his letters, which he had not done previously, and did so well that he can now easily read and understand books. Furthermore, he knows how to speak the Romance and Slavic languages. But it is rarely the case that he finds it useful to do so. He frequently goes hunting, and loves table games. He also gracefully practices his horsemanship in a weighty royal manner. He has grown into a large body that shows his full royal dignity. His head is covered with white hair…”

Ingenium ei admodum mirandum; nam post mortem Edidis reginae, cum antea nescierit, litteras in tantum didicit, ut pleniter libros legere et intelligere noverit. Preterea Romana lingua Sclavanicaque loqui scit; sed rarum est, quo earum uti dignetur. In venationibus creber, tabularum ludos amat, equitatus gratiam regia gravitate interdum exercens. Accessit ad haec et moles corporis, omnem regiam ostendens dignitatem, capite cano sparsus capillo…

40. Regarding the hostages from Boleslav.

“At that time, while the king spent some in forested regions hunting, we saw the hostages sent by Boleslav,* whom the king ordered to be presented to the people. The king was very happy about them.”

* note from translators: “Whether Duke Boleslav I sent hostages at such an early date is not clear. Otto undertook a major campaign against the Bohemia in 950. Consequently, if Boleslav did send hostages in either 945 or 946, relations between the two rulers deteriorated significantly after this date.”

Eo tempore cum moraretur rex in campis silvestribus venationem agens, obsides Bolizlavi [ibi] vidimus, quos populo rex presentari iussit, satis super eis laetatus.

Book III

8. How the king led an army against Boleslav

“At that time, the king campaigned against Boleslav, the king of the Bohemians. After he had captured the fortress called ‘New’ [Nymburk], in which Boleslav’s son [i.e., Boleslav II] had been one of those who was besieged, the king, following prudent advice, ended the fighting. He did so to avoid having any of his soldiers fall prey to danger while seizing the spoils from the enemy. After he had taken stock of the great strength of the king, and the enormous size of his army, Boleslav departed from his city [Prague], preferring to subject himself to such great majesty rather than suffer ultimate ruin, So, standing under the banners, listening to the king, and giving answers, he earned mercy. After he had achieved glory through this complete victory the king returned to Saxony.”

Illo tempore rex proficiscitur in militiam contra Bolizlavum regem Boemiorum; et cum capienda esset urbs quae nuncupabatur Nova, in qua clausus obsidebatur Bolizlavi filius, prudenti rex consilio diremit prelium, ne miles in rapiendis hostium spoliis aliquod periculum incideret. Considerata itaque virtute regis ac innumera multitudine exercitus, Bolizlav urbe egressus maluit tantae maiestati subici quam ultimam perniciem pati. Sub signisque stans et regem audiens responsaque reddens, veniam tandem promeruit. Inde plena victoria gloriosus factus, rex Saxoniam regreditur.

42. How the Ukrani were defeated by Gero.

“In that year, the Slavs, who are called Ukrani, were defeated by Gero with great glory because Duke Conrad was dispatched to provide aid to him. They captured an enormous quantity of booty, and great happiness reigned in Saxony.” [this was in 954]

Eo anno Sclavi qui dicuntur Uchri a Gerone cum magna gloria devicti, cum ei presidio esset dux Cuonradus a rege missus. Preda inde ingens ducta; Saxoniae laetitia magna exorta.

44. Regarding the famous triumph that the king achieved over the Hungarians.

“When the king entered Saxony around the beginning of July, he met legates from the Hungarians, who presented themselves as if they had come to see him because of their established good faith and friendship. In truth, however, as it seemed to some people, they had come to learn about the outcome of the civil war. The king kept them with him for a few days and then sent them back in peace, bearing some minor gifts. But he then learned from messengers sent by his brother, the duke of the Bavarians, that: ‘Behold numerous Hungarians have invaded your lands and stand prepared for battle with you.’ As soon as he heard this, the king, acting as if he had not endured any labor in the war just ended, began to march against the enemy. He took a small force with him, and particularly few from among the Saxons, because they were now threatened by a war with the Slavs…”

[note: what follows is the account of the Battle on the Lechfeld at the Lech river where Otto defeated the Hungarians in 955.]

Ingressusque Saxoniam circa Kalend. Iulii obvios habet legatos Ungariorum, tamquam ob antiquam fidem ac gratiam eum visitantes; re autem vera, ut quibusdam videbatur, eventum belli civilis considerantes. Quos cum secum aliquantis diebus retinuisset et aliquibus munusculis donatos remisisset in pace, audivit a nuntiis fratris, ducis scilicet Boioariorum, quia: «Ecce Ungarii diffusi invadunt terminos tuos statuuntque tecum inire certamen». His auditis rex, quasi nichil laboris preterito bello toleravisset, coepit ire contra hostes, sumptis secum paucis admodum ex Saxonibus, eo quod iam bellum Sclavanicum urgeret…

45. Regarding Thiadric’s battle against the Slavs.

“While these events were going on in Bavaria, Thiadric fought with mixed luck against the barbarians. While attempting to capture one of their strongholds, Thiadric pursued the enemy up to the entrance of the gate, forcing them inside the wall. He captured the fort and burned it. All of those who were outside the walls were either captured or killed. He returned when the fire died out. Half of his soldiers crossed through a swamp that was adjacent to the fort. When the Slavs realized that our men were in a tight spot because of the difficulty of the terrain, and that they did not have enough men to fight, and did not have anywhere to flee, they attacked our men from the rear with a great shout. They killed about fifty of our men and the remainder fled.”

Dum ea geruntur in Boioaria, varie pugnatum est a preside Thiadrico adversus barbaros. Cum capere nisus esset quandam urbem illorum, usque ad introitum portae persecutus est adversarios, cogens illos intra murum, oppido potito et incenso et omnibus quae foras murum erant captis vel interfectis; cum iam incendio extincto reverteretur, et paludem, quae erat urbi adiacens, medietas militum transisset, Sclavi videntes nostros in arto sitos ob difficultatem loci nec copiam habere pugnandi nec locum adeo fugiendi, insequebantur a tergo revertentes clamore magno; peremerunt ex eis ad quinquaginta viros, foeda fuga nostrorum facta.

49. Regarding the triumph of the king.

“The king made glorious by this celebrated triumph, was named father of the fatherland and emperor by his army. Then he decreed that worthy honor and praise be given to God in every church. He had word of his triumph sent by messenger to his sainted mother, and then with great happiness and joy, he returned to Saxony as a victor, and was received most early by his people. No king in the two hundred years before him had celebrated a victory if this size. The Saxons had not been present at the battle with the Hungarians, having been held in reserve for the battle against the Slavs.”*

* According to the translators, Widukind may perhaps be comparing the Lechfeld victory of 955 over the Hungarians to the victory of Charles Martel over the Muslims in 732. Also, apparently, the last sentence about the Saxons not having been there was edited out of one of the manuscripts!

Triumpho celebri rex factus gloriosus ab exercitu pater patriae imperatorque appellatus est; decretis proinde honoribus et dignis laudibus summae divinitati per singulas ecclesias, et hoc idem sanctae matri eius per nuntios demandans, cum tripudio ac summa laetitia Saxoniam victor reversus a populo suo libentissime suscipitur. Neque enim tanta victoria quisquam regum intra ducentos annos ante eum laetatus est. [Nam ipsi bello Ungarico aberant, Sclavanico certamini reservati].

50. Regarding the king and Wichmann’s cunning.

“…After he [Wichmann] had spent several days’ in [Count] Ibo’s company, he asked that he be permitted to go into the forest to go hunting. He gathered some of his companions, who had hidden there, and returned to his fatherland. After occupying some fortifications, he was joined by his brother Eckbert, and raised up arms against the emperor. However, Duke Hermann’s efforts easily suppressed thrum, and foxed thrum across the Elbe. When they realized that they could not oppose the duke, they joined forces with two minor barbarian kings, who had been troubling the Saxons for a long time, namely Nacco and his brother [Stoinef – both of the Obodrites, as per the translators].”

Aliquantis diebus cum eo degens, petit post haec venandi gratia silvam ire liceret. Ibi absconditos socios secum sumens perrexit in patriam et, occupatis aliquibus urbibus, iuncto sibi Ecberhto arma sumit contra imperatorem. Industria autem ducis Herimanni facile eos obpressit trans Albiamque coegit. Illi cum se sensissent duci resistere non posse, sociaverunt sibi duos subregulos barbarorum, Saxonibus iam olim infestos, Naconem et fratrem eius.

51. Regarding the army that almost captured Wichmann in the stronghold of Suitleiscranne.

“An army commanded by the duke found them in a stronghold that was called Suitleiscranne. They were almost captured along with the fort. But they were warned by the shouting and hastened to arm themselves. Forty armed men were killed before the fates of the fort, and Duke Hermann departed loaded down with spoils taken from the dead men. Henry, the frontier commander [praeses], and his brother Siegfried [of Stade?], aided him. Both of them were prominent and powerful men, excelling equally in both war and in peace. This action took place at the beginning of the forty-day period of fasting.”

Ductus exercitus a duce, reperti sunt in urbe quae dicitur Suithleiscranne. Et pene erat, ut cum urbe caperentur, nisi clamore cuiusdam citarentur et ad arma prosilirent; caesis tamen ante portam urbis ad quadraginta armatis caesorumque spoliis potitus, dux Herimannus discedit. Erant autem qui eum adiuvarent Heinricus preses cum fratre Sigifrido viri eminentes et fortes, domimilitiaque optimi. Facta sunt autem haec initio quadragesimalis ieiunii.

52. How the fortress of the Cocarescemi* was captured.

“Just after Easter that year [Easter was April 15 in 955], the barbarians raided the region. They were guided by Wichmann in this action, although he was not their commander. Hermann did not delay. He brought up military forces to resist them. However, when Hermann saw that the enemy army was large, and that his own forces were small as a result of the demands of the ongoing civil war, he decided that it would be better to put off battle under these adverse conditions. He also ordered the great multitude of people, who had fled into one fortress, because they didn’t trust the others, to ask for peace under whatever terms they could obtain. Hermann’s soldiers were opposed to this plan, especially Siegfried, who was an exceptionally powerful warrior. But the people of the Cocarescemi did as the duke had ordered and made peace under the following conditions: the free men along with their wives and children should climb up onto the wall, unarmed. They were to leave behind all of their slaves and other goods in the middle of the fort for the enemy. However, when the barbarians rushed into the stronghold., one of them recognized the wife of a certain free man his slave. When the barbarian tried to seize her from the hands of the man, the barbarian was struck, and then shouted that the agreement had been broken by the Saxons. So it happened that all of the enemy turned to killing, and they left no one behind. They killed all of the adults and took the mothers and children away as captives.”

* note from translators: Cocarascemi (also Cocarescesii or Cocarescemii) were “Slavs who lived under Ottonian rule. They were not Saxon settlers in erstwhile Slavic lands. Although the Cocarascemi have not been identified by scholars, it is almost certainly the case that these events took place east of the Elbe river.”

Barbari vero post proximum pascha irruunt in regionem, ducem habentes Wichmannum ad facinus tantum, non ad imperium. Nullam moram agens sed et ipse dux Herimannus cum presidio militari adest; vidensque exercitum hostium gravem sibique parvas admodum belli copias affore civili bello urgente arbitratus est consultius differre certamen in dubiis rebus constitutis, multitudinique imperare, quae maxima in unam urbem confluxerat, dum caeteris diffiderent, quoquo pacto possent, pacem expostularent. Quod tamen consilium milites aegre valde tulerunt, et maxime Sigifridus, qui erat bellator acerrimus. Faciunt tamen cives Cocarescemiorum, ut dux imperarat, pacemque eo pacto obtinent, quo liberi cum uxoribus et natis supra murum inermes ascenderent, conditione servili et omni suppellectili in medio urbis hostibus relicta. Cum intra urbem irruerent barbari, quidam illorum suum mancipium agnoscit in cuiusdam liberti uxore; quam cum rapere de manu viri niteretur, ictum pugne accipit, irritumque pactum ex parte Saxonum proclamitat. Unde fit, ut omnes ad caedem verterentur nullumque relinquerent, sed omnes perfectae aetatis neci darent, matres cum natis captivos ducerent.

53. How the king avenged this raid.

“The emperor, who was eager to avenge this evil deed now that he had achieved victory over the Hungarians, invaded the lands of the barbarians. He took counsel regarding the Saxons who had conspired with the Slavs, and judged it fitting that Wichmann and Eckbert be declared public enemies. However he would spare the others insofar as they were willing o return to their own people. A legation of the barbarians was present announcing that they wished to pay their tribute in the customary manner, but that they wished to have the dominant position among the other peoples of their region. Under these conditions they wished peace. Otherwise, they would fight for their liberty. The emperor responded to them in this manner: he had no desire to deny them peace. But under no circumstances could he give them peace unless they purged themselves in an honorable manner for the injury they had caused, and provided compensation.”

Quod scelus imperator ulcisci gestiens, victoria iam de Ungariis patrata, regiones barbarorum hostiliter intravit. Consultum de Saxonibus, qui cum Sclavis conspiraverant, iudicatum est Wichmannum et Ecberhtum pro hostibus publicis habere oportere, caeteris vero parcere, siquidem remeare voluissent ad suos. Aderat et legatio barbarorum tributa socios ex more velle persolvere nuntians, caeterum dominationem regionis velle tenere; hoc pacto pacem velle, alioquin pro libertate armis certare. Imperator ad haec respondit: pacem quidem eis nequaquam negare, sed omnimodis dare non posse, nisi iniuriam perpetratam digno honore ac emendatione purgarent.

“The emperor then led an army throughout their lands, burning and devastating everything,* until finally establishing his camp along the Recknitz river, which was very difficult to cross because of the swamps.** Here the army was surrounded by enemies. From the rear the path was blocked by powerful trees that were defended by a force of armed men.*** Directly in front of them, the river, the swamp adjacent to the river, and a high army of Slav warriors blocked the work as well as the path of the army. The army was bothered by other difficulties as well, namely sickness and hunger in equal measure. After operating under these conditions for several days, Count Gero was dispatched to the leader of the barbarians, who was called Stoinef, to give him a chance to surrender to the emperor. The emperor thus offered to receive him as a friend, and not to test him as an enemy.”

* note from the translators: The lands of the Obodrites were in the regions north and east of the Havel river in modern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Apparently, the devastation wrought by Otto I’s army during this invasion has been confirmed by excavations (see Jens Ulrich’s “Der Burgwall von Klempenow, Landkreis Demmin.”

** note from the translators: “The likely location of this camp was nearby the modern town of Ribnitz-Damgarten.”

*** note from the translators: “The Obodrites felled trees along the route traveled by the advancing Ottonian army in order to cut off their line of communication back to imperial territory.”

Omniaque vastando et incendendo per illas regiones duxit exercitum, donec tandem castris positis super Raxam fluvium ad transmeandum paludibus difficillimum ab hostibus circumfunditur. A tergo namque [via] arborum robore obstruitur, eademque armatorum manu vallatur. Ex adverso fluvius fluvioque contigua palus et cum ingenti exercitu Sclavus bellatores et ab opere et ab itinere prohibens. Vexatur autem et aliis incommodis exercitus, morbo pariter ac fame. Dum talia agerentur per plures dies, mittitur ad principem barbarorum, qui dicebatur Stoinef, Gero comes, quatinus imperatori se dedat: amicum per id adepturum, non hostem experturum.

54. Regarding the frontier commander Gero.

“Gero excelled in many areas. He was skilled in war, and offered good counsel in peacetime matters. He was quite eloquent, and very learned. He preferred to demonstrate his prudence through deeds rather than words. He showed great energy in gaining wealth, and generosity in giving it away. But best of all, he showed zeal for the worship of God. Therefore, the frontier commander greeted the barbarians over the swamp and the river, which was adjacent to the swamp. A Slav responded to him similarly. The frontier commander then addressed him in the following manner: ‘It would be enough if you waged war against one of the servants of my lord, and not against my lord king himself. What kind of army do you have what kinds of arms that you would presume to do such a thing? If you have any strength, if you have the skill, if you have sufficient bravery, give ys room to cross over to you. Or do you wish to cross over to us so that the strength of the fighters might be seen on even ground?'”

Erant quippe in Gerone multae artes bonae, bellandi peritia, in rebus civilibus bona consilia, satis eloquentiae, multum scientiae, et qui prudentiam suam opere ostenderet quam ore; in adquirendo strennuitas, in dando largitas et, quod optimum erat, ad cultum divinum bonum studium. Igitur preses super paludem et flumen, cui palus adiacens erat, barbarum salutabat. Cui Sclavus aequalia respondit. Ad quem preses: «Satis tibi esset, si bellum gereres contra unum nostrum de servis domini mei, et non etiam contra dominum meum regem. Quis tibi exercitus, quae arma, ut talia presumas? Si aliqua vobis virtus adsit, si artes, si audatia, date nobis locum ad vos transeundi, sive nos vobis huc veniendi, et aequato loco fortitudo appareat pugnatoris».

“But the Slav raged at him in the barbarian way and, vomiting out fuses, mocked Gero, the emperor, and the whole army knowing that they were burdened by many problems. Gero, who grew angered by this because he had such an ardent spirit, said: ‘Tomorrow the day will make clear whether you and your people are strong or not. Let there be no doubt that tomorrow you will see us attacking you.’ Gero, who for a long time had achieved renown for his many great deeds, was especially celebrated at this point because he had defeated the Slavs, called the Ukrani, with such great glory.”

Sclavus barbarico more frendens et multa convicia evomens irrisit Geronem imperatoremque et omnem exercitum, sciens eum multis molestiis aggravatum. Gero ad haec commotus, ut erat animi ardentissimi: «Crastinus», inquit, «dies declarabit, tu et populus tuus fortes viribus sitis an non. Cras enim nos vobiscum congredientes procul dubio videbitis». Gero denique, olim licet multis gestis insigniis clarus haberetur, iam tamen magnus ac celebris ubique predicabatur, eo quod Sclavos qui dicuntur Uchri cum magna gloria cepisset.

“Gero returned to camp and reported what he had heard. The emperor, who rose while it was still night, ordered that bows and other machines be deployed for battle as if he wished to cross the river and swamp in force. Following the warning of the previous day, the Slavs did not think that this preparation boded anything else. So they prepared for battle, defending the path with all of their forces.* But Gero, along with his allies the Ranen,** traveled almost a mile downstream from the camp, without the enemy realizing it, and quickly constructed three bridges. Gero then sent a messenger to the emperor summoning the entire army. Where the barbarians realized what had happened they hurried to mer the legions. But the foot soldiers of the barbarians had to run a longer route before entering the battle. Thus, overcome by fatigue, they quickly gave way before the soldiers. They were immediately cut down as they sought the safety of flight.”***

* note from the translators: “They deployed all of their men in defensive positions to deny Otto I’s army the ability to cross the river, likely over a ford.”

** The Ranen or Rani or Ruiani lived in the area of the island of Rugen (including on the island itself) which later was the site of their Svantevit temple.

*** As per the Annals of Saint Gall, this battle took place on October 16th, 955 (the feast of Saint Gall). Apparently, it also included on the Slavic side the Circipani.

Gero reversus in castra retulit quae audierat. Imperator vero de nocte consurgens iubet sagittis et aliis machinis ad pugnam provocare, et quasi vi flumen paludemque transcendere velle. Sclavi autem hesterna comminatione nichil aliud arbitrati ad pugnam pariter conspiravere, iter totis viribus defendentes. At Gero cum amicis Ruanis miliario ferme uno a castris descendens hoste ignorante tres pontes celeriter construxit et misso nuntio ad imperatorem totum exercitum revocavit. Quo viso barbari et ipsi obviare legionibus contendunt. Pedites barbarorum dum longiorem viam currunt et certamen ineunt, fatigatione dissoluti militibus citius cedunt; nec mora, dum fugae presidium quaerunt, obtruncantur.

55. Regarding Stoinef, the king of the barbarians, and the solider who killed him.

“Stoinef waited on events with some mounted troops atop a high hill. Recognizing that his companions were fleeing, he also took flight. But he was discovered in a certain wood, along with two of his bodyguards, by a soldier whose name was Hosed. After being overcome in combat, Stoinef was striped of his arms, and beheaded. One of his bodyguards was captured alive. The soldier presented him along with Stoinef’s head and the spoils taken from that minor king to the emperor. Through this act, Hosed became renowned and distinguished. The dewar for this famous deed was an imperial grant with an income equivalent to twenty farms [hoba].”

Stoinef autem colle eminenti cum equitibus eventum rei expectabat. Socios inire fugam cernens fugit et ipse, lucoque quodam cum duobus satellitibus repertus a viro militari, cuius vocabulum erat Hosed, certamine fatigatus armisque nudatus capite caesus est. Satellitum alius vivus captus imperatorique cum capite et spoliis reguli ab eodem milite presentatus est. Ex hoc Hosed clarus et insignis habitus. Merces tam famosi gesti donativum imperiale cum reditu viginti mansuum.

“That same day, the enemy camp was attacked, and many men were killed or captured. The killing went on far into the night. The next morning, the head of this minor king was placed in a field Around it, seven hundred prisoners were beheaded. The eyes of his adviser were torn out, as was his tongue. He was then left helpless in the midst of the corpses. WIchmamn and Eckbert, conscious of their evil deeds, left for Gaul and escaped to Duke Hugh.”*

* As per the translators this is Hugh the Great, the brother-in-law of Otto I.

Eo die castra hostium invasa, et multi mortales interfecti vel capti, caedesque in multam noctem protrahebatur. Postera luce caput subreguli in campo positum, circaque illud septingenti captivorum capite caesi, eiusque consiliarius oculis erutis lingua est privatus in medioque cadaverum inutilis relictus. Wichmannus vero et Ecberhtus scelerum conscii in Galliam profecti, ad Hugonem ducem fuga elapsi sunt.

58. Regarding the letter that reported his death.

“A letter bringing news of his death [Liudolf’s – the emperor’s son’s who was campaigning in Italy] was carried to the emperor while he was on campaign, fighting against the Redarii.* He poured out many tears on account of his son’s death. As for the rest, he remained faithfully committed to God, the guide of all things, who had ordained his empire up to now.”

* As per the translators, the continuators of Adalbert of Magdeburg record this campaign of Otto I’s in 957 (against the “Slavs”).

Litterae autem obitus eius allatae sunt imperatori, cum esset in militia, qua militavit contra Redarios; quapropter satis plurimum lacrimarum pro filii interitu fudit; de caetero, qui adhuc ordinavit imperium suum, rectori omnium Deo fideliter commisit.

66. Gero because of his oath, released Wichmann.

“Not unmindful of his oath, when Count Gero saw that Wichmann had been accused, and recognized that he was guilty, he released him back to the barbarians from whom he had acquired him. They happily received Wichamnn, who then wore down the barbarians, who live even further away, with numerous battles. Wichmann derated King Miesco, who ruled over the Slavs called the Licicaviki, in two battles, and killed his brother. He then extorted a great quantity of booty from them.”

Gero igitur comes non inmemor iuramenti, cum Wichmannum accusari vidisset reumque cognovisset, barbaris, a quibus eum assumpsit, restituit. Ab eis libenter susceptus longius degentes barbaros crebris preliis contrivit. Misacam regem, cuius potestatis erant Sclavi qui dicuntur Licicaviki, duabus vicibus superavit fratremque ipsius interfecit, predam magnam ab eo extorsit.

67. How Gero conquered the Lutizi.

“During this time, the frontier commander Gero badly defeated the Slavs who are called the Lutizi, and compelled them to accept the heaviest burdens of servitude.* Thus victory, however, was not accomplished without Gero having suffered as serious wound, and the death of his nephew, who was among the best of men, and the deaths of many other outstanding men.”

* as per the translators, these were the Lusatians (see below – Lusiki) of the Lausitz district “between the Bobr and Kwisa rivers and the Elbe… The population of Upper Lusatia during the Ottonian period consisted of the Milceni… [the Lusatians were conquered by the Germans in about 963] These heavy burdens likely refer to extensive tribute payments, and also the requirement to build and to support the numerous fortifications that were established by the Ottonians in this region.” note: it’s not clear why the translators chose to translate Lusiki as Lutizi if they knew that Lusiki referred to the Lusatians and not to the Lutizi (aka Wiltzi, aka Veleti, aka Welatawe, aka Welatabe) who were living on the Baltic coast – far to the north of Lusatia and the Lusatians.

Eo quoque tempore Gero preses Sclavos qui dicuntur Lusiki potentissime vicit et ad ultimam servi tutem coegit, non sine sui tamen gravi vulnere nepotisque optimi viri casu, caeterorum quoque quam plurimorum nobilium virorum.

68. Regarding two minor kings and Wichmann.

For this section, see here.

69. Regarding the death of Wichmman.

“When Wichmann learned that the fort had been captured and that his companions had been punished, he went east and again joined with the pagans. He took up with the Slavs called the Wuloini,* who wished to wage war against Miesco, the friend [amicus, as in subordinate political ally, as per translators] of the emperor, something that was not hidden at all from Miesco. Consequently, Miesco sent a request to King Boleslav of the Bohemians, who was his father-in-law,** and received two inits of mounted troops from him. When Wichmann led his army against Miesco, the latter first dispatched his foot soldiers against him.*** However, at the duke’s order, they gradually withdrew before Wichmann so that he was pulled ever further from his fortified encampment. Then, when Miesco had sent his mounted troops to attack from the rear, he used a signal to order the foot soldiers, who had been withdrawing, to advance against the enemy.”

* note from the translators: “Their place of settlement included the island of Wollin, which is located off the coast of modern Poland in the lagoon area at the mouth of the Oder river.”

** Because of Dobrawa to whom Mieszko was married then.

*** note from the translators: “This battle took place on September 21, 967, and Wichmann was killed the following day.”

Audiens autem Wichmannus urbem captam sociosque afflictos ad orientem versus iterum se paganis inmersit, egitque cum Sclavis qui dicuntur Vuloini, quo modo Misacam amicum imperatoris bello lascesserent; quod eum minime latuit. Qui misit ad Bolizlavum regem Boemiorum – gener enim ipsius erat – accepitque ab eo equitum duas acies. Cumque contra eum Wichmannus duxisset exercitum, pedites primum ei inmisit. Cumque ex iussu ducis paulatim coram Wichmanno fugerent, a castris longius protrahitur, equitibus a tergo inmissis, signo fugientes ad reversionem hostium monet.

“When he was being pressed from the front and from rear, Wichmann attempted to flee. But he was accused of betrayal by his companions. Although he had convinced them to go into battle, when it became dangerous, he did not hesitate to try to flee on his horse. After being forced to dismount, Wichmann joined with his companions on foot, and entered the battle. He fought very bravely that day, defended by his armor. The next morning worn down by hunger and the long road that he had traveled, fully armed, through the entire night, he and a few others entered a building belonging to some man.”

Cum ex adverso et post tergum premeretur, Wichmannus fugam inire temptavit. A sociis igitur arguitur sceleris, quia ipse eos ad pugnam instigaverit fidensque equo, cum necesse fuerit, fugam facile inierit. Coactus itaque equo cessit, pedestris cum sociis certamen iniit, eoque die viriliter pugnans armis defenditur. Ieiunio autem et longiori via, qua per totam noctem armatus incessit, mane cum paucis admodum aream cuiusdam iam fessus intravit.

“When some leading men among the enemy found him, they recognized from his arms that he was an important man. When they asked who he was, he responded that he was Wichmann. They demanded that he lay down his arms. They swore that they would resent hm safe to their lord, and that he would see to it that Wichmann was returned unharmed to the emperor. Wichmann, who now found himself in dire straights, was not unmindful of his earlier nobility and strength, and disdained surrendering to such men. So he asked that they bring word to Miesco that he would lay down his arms and surrender to him. While they set off to fund Miesco, an enormous crowd surrounded Wichmann, bitterly attacking him. Although he was exhausted, Wichmann struck down many of them. At last, he raised up his sword, and said the following to one of the more capable of his enemies: ‘Take this sword, and carry it to your lord. Let him have this as a symbol of his victory, and send it to his friend the emperor so that he might know that he can laugh at the death of an enemy, but should weep at the death of a kinsman.’ After he said this, Wichmann turned to the east and prayed in his mother tongue,* as best he could, to the Lord, and poured out his soul, filled with many misfortunes and troubles, to the mercy of the Creator of all things. This was the end of Wichmann, and such also was the end of for almost all of those who raise their arms against your father. Here ends book three.”**

* presumably his “native” language was Saxon.

** note from the translators: “This is the text of version A. The final two chapters dealing with Wichmann form a kind of epilogue for the entire book. In versions B and C, the reference to ‘your father’ and the mention of this as the end of Book Three both are dropped.” Note below versions in Latin.

Optimates autem hostium cum eum repperissent, ex armis agnoscunt, quia vir eminens esset. Interrogatusque ab eis, quisnam esset, Wichmannum se fore professus est. At illi arma deponere exhortati sunt. Fidem deinde spondent salvum eum domino suo presentari hocque apud ipsum obtinere, quatinus incolumem imperatori restituat. Ille, licet in ultima necessitate sit constitutus, non inmemor pristinae nobilitatis ac virtutis, dedignatus est talibus manum dare, petit tamen, ut Misaco de eo adnuntient: illi velle arma deponere, illi manus dare. Dum ad Misacam ipsi pergunt, vulgus innumerabile eum circumdat eumque acriter inpugnat. Ipse autem, quamvis fessus, multis ex eis fusis, tandem gladium sumit et potiori hostium cum his verbis tradidit: «Accipe», inquit, «hunc gladium et defer domino tuo, quo pro signo victoriae illum teneat imperatorique amico transmittat, quo sciat aut hostem occisum irridere vel certe propinquum deflere». Et his dictis conversus ad orientem, ut potuit, patria voce Dominum exoravit animamque multis miseriis et incommodis repletam pietati creatoris omnium effudit.
[Versio B/C:]
Is finis Wichmanno, talisque omnibus fere, qui contra imperatorem arma sumpserunt.
[Versio A:]
Is finis Wichmanno, talisque omnibus fere, qui contra imperatorem arma sumpserunt patrem tuum. Explicit liber tercius.

70. After he had received Wichmann’s arms, the emperor, who was now certain [of his death], wrote a letter to be dispatched throughout Saxony.

“After the emperor* received Wichmann’s arms, the emperor, and was certain of his death, he wrote a letter to the military commanders and counts of Saxony in the following manner: ‘Otto, august emperor by divine grace, to Hermann, Thiadric,** and the other counts of our state, every friendly greeting. By the will of God, I am well, and all of my affairs are advancing without pause. Furthermore, messengers have come to us from the king of Constantinople,*** very distinguished men, who, as I understand, are very interested in seeking peace. However this matter turns out, they certainly will not dare, God willing, to test us with war. Unless we can come to an agreement, i will gain from them the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, which they have held until now. However, if they accept our will, we will send our wife and our like-named son [Otto II who became co-emperor in 967 at age 12] this summer to Francia, and we promise you that, with God’s aid, we shall go on campaign to Frainet, to destroy the Saracens. Furthermore, we wish, if the Redarii have indeed suffered very heavy losses, as we have heard – you know how often they have broken their oaths and what injuries they have inflicted – that they shall have no peace from you. Discuss these matters with Duke Hermann, and attack with all of your forces, so that you can bring about their final destruction. If it is necessary, we shall march against them ourselves. On the Nativity of the Lord, our son received the crown, as a sign of the imperial office from the bless apostle. Written on 18th January at Capua in Campania.'”

* Otto I became emperor on February 2, 962.

** As per the translators, Thiadric was one of the five successors to Gero. He was responsible for the Saxon north march which eventually came to be called, the Altmark.

*** This is a slap at the Byzantine Emperor, i.e., Otto is now the emperor but the Byzantines just have a “king”. Otto fought two campaigns against the Byzantines in the south of Italy in 968 and 969, with mixed results. The coronation of Otto II (the Red) was designed to enable Otto’s son to become married to the Byzantine princess Theophanu in 972 (the Byzantines were objecting to the use of the term “emperor” for the Ottonians since they saw themselves as the only legitimate heirs of the Western Roman Empire). Otto I finally returned to Germany in August 972 and died at Memleben in 973. Otto II succeeded him as sole Emperor. He ruled till 983 and saw (from Italy – where he was and from which he did not return) the beginning of the Lutici-caused “Great Slav Uprising” (started about June 29, 983) against the Ottonians, feudalism and, of course, Christianity. Out of the marriage of Otto II and Theophanu came Otto III (born 980). Theophanus was the niece of the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

Imperator itaque acceptis armis Wichmanni de nece eius iam certus factus scripsit epistolam ad duces et prefectos Saxoniae in hunc modum: Oddo divino nutu imperator augustus Herimanno et Thiadrico ducibus caeterisque publicae rei nostrae prefecfis omnia amabilia. Deo volente salus omniaque prospera plane succedunt. Caeterum nuntii Constantinopolitani regis dignitate satis insignes nos adeunt, pacem, ut intelleximus, admodum quaerentes. Quoquo modo tamen res agatur, bello Deo volente nullo modo nos temptare audebunt. Apuliam et Calabriam provincias, quas hactenus fenuere, nisi conveniamus, dabunt. Si vero voluntati nostrae paruerint, ut presenti aestate coniugem cum aequivoco nostro in Franciam dirigentes, per Fraxanetum ad destruendos Sarracenos Deo comite iter arripiemus, et sic ad vos, disponimus. Preterea volumus, ut, si Redares, sicut audivimus, tantam stragem passi sunt – scitis enim, quam saepe fidem fregerint, quas iniurias attulerint -, nullam vobiscum pacem habeant. Unde haec cum Herimanno duce ventilantes totis viribus instate, ut in destructione eorum finem operi inponatis. Ipsi, si necesse fuerit, ad eos ibimus. Filius noster in nativitate Domini coronam a beato apostolico in imperii dignitatem suscepit. Scripta XV. Kal. Febr. in Campania iuxta Capuam.

“When this letter was read aloud to the assembled leaders and a great crowd of common people, who had gathered at the assembly, which was being held at a place called Werla, it seemed appropriate to keep the peace that had been made with the Redarii, since there was a threat of war against the Danes at that time, and because they did not have sufficient forces to wage two ward at the same time.”

His litteris lectis in conventu populi in loco qui dicitur Werla coram principibus et frequentia plebis, visum est pacem iam datam Redariis oportere stare, eo quod tunc bellum adversum Danos urgeret, et quia copiae minus sufficerent ad duo bella pariter conficienda.

What Widukind’s “Deeds of the Saxons” Has to Say Regarding the Slavs – Part I

PublishedJune 5, 2016 Post authortorino

Widukind (Witikindus) of Corvey (circa 925-935 – circa after 973) , the author of the Deeds of the Saxons has much to say about the Slavs. He was perhaps, named after Wittekind (Child of the wood”?) the Saxon war hero who fought against the Franks during the Saxon Wars (777-785) and lost… then converted to Christianity and, as per the Vita Liudgeri (biography of Saint Ludger), subsequently accompanied Charlemagne on the latter’s campaign against the Veleti and their leader Dragovit.

1577 edition

Although we’ve already mentioned some references (e.g., to the Licikaviki of Mieszko), we thought we should also discuss other mentions of the Slavs. The following comes from the Bernard and David Bachrach translation of Res gestae Saxonicae. We present it here in several parts.

author?

Book I

17. Regarding King Henry

“…From his youth, Henry [I] devoted every bit of his strength to bringing glory to his people, and to strengthening peace. When the father saw the wisdom of the youth, and his exceptional judgment, he dispatched Henry with a Saxon levy and the ducal military household against the Daleminzi, whom he himself had fought for many years. The Daleminzi were not able to withstand Henry’s attack and summoned against him the Avars, whom we now call the Hungarians, a people that is exceptionally brutal in war.” [906?]

…nam maximum ei ab adolescentia studium erat in glorificando gentem suam et pacem confirmando in omni potestate sua. Pater autem videns prudentiam adolescentis et consilii magnitudinem reliquit ei exercitum et militiam adversus Dalamantiam, contra quos diu ipse militavit. Dalamanci vero inpetum illius ferre non valentes conduxerunt adversus eum Avares, quos modo Ungarios vocamus, gentem belli asperrimam.

19. The Hungarians were confined by Charlemagne, but were set free by Arnulf

“The Hungarians were defeated by Charlemagne, driven across the Danube river, enclosed within a huge wall, and prohibited from raiding other peoples in their customary manner. However, during the reign of Arnulf [887-899], this work was undone, and a path was opened up for them to renew their killing since the emperor angered Zwentibold, the king of the Moravians [Svatopluk I, 870 or 871-894]. The great slaughter and tremendous injuries inflicted by the Hungarians on the Frankish empire are attested by the cities and regions that remain desolate up to the present day. We judge it useful to provide information about this people so that your highness will understand the kind of people against whom you grandfather and father fought, and from what kind of enemies almost all of Europe has been liberated by strength of your grandfather’s and father’s widow and under their banners.”

Victi autem a Magno Karolo et trans Danubium pulsi ac ingenti vallo circumclusi, prohibiti sunt a consueta gentium depopulatione. Imperante autem Arnulfo destructum est opus, et via eis nocendi patefacta, eo quod iratus esset imperator Centupulcho regi Marorum. Deinde quantam stragem quantamque iniuriam imperio Francorum fecerint, urbes ac regiones adhuc desolatae testantur. Haec ideo de hac gente dicere arbitrati sumus, ut possit tua claritas agnoscere, cum qualibus avo tuo patrique certandum fuerit, vel a quibus hostibus per eorum providentiae virtutem et armorum insignia tota iam fere Europa liberata sit.

20. How the Hungarians devastated Saxony,

“The Hungarian army, mentioned above, was guided by the Slavs and inflicted great slaughter in Saxony. After taking huge quantities of booty, they returned to Dalminzia and met another Hungarian army there. The second Hungarian army threatened to make war on the allies of the first army because they refused to provide help to them,* while leading the first army to such great plunder. So it happened that Saxony was laid waste a second time by the Hungarians. The first army awaited the second in Daleminzia, and by their presence caused such a dearth of food that they [Daleminzi] were forced that year to leave their own homes and serve other nations to obtain sustenance.”

* apparently the Slavic Daleminzi did not want to help this second Hungarian army notwithstanding the fact that they helped the first.

Predictus igitur exercitus Ungariorum a Sclavis conductus, multa strage in Saxonia facta et infinita capta preda, Dalamantiam reversi obvium invenerunt alium exercitum Ungariorum; qui comminati sunt bellum inferre amicis eorum, eo quod auxilia eorum sprevissent, dum illos ad tantam predam duxissent. Unde factum est, ut secundo vastaretur Saxonia ab Ungariis, et priori exercitu in Dalamantia secundum expectante, ipsa quoque in tantam penuriae miseriam ducta sit, ut aliis nationibus eo anno relicto proprio solo pro annona servirent.

35. How King Henry used his nine years of peace.

“…After Henry had accustomed his subjects to this legal obligation and discipline, he immediately attacked the Slavs who are called the Hevelii. First, Henry wore them down with numerous battles. Then he established his encampment on the ice during the coldest part of the winter. Finally, through hunger, iron, and cold, he captured the fortress of Brandenburg [Brennaburg]. Then having captured the entire region along with this fortress, Henry turned his banners against Daleminzia where his father long before had placed him in command of an army. There he besieged a fortress called Gana,* and finally captured it after twenty days. Henry distributed the booty from the fortress among his soldiers. All of the adults were killed, while the youths and maidens were led off as slaves. After this, Henry marched to Prague, the fortress of the Bohemians, with his entire army. He received the surrender of the king of the Bohemians. Certain miraculous stories are told about this king, but we think that it is better to remain silent about them because we have no proof that they happened. He was the brother of Boleslav who remained loyal and helpful to the emperor as long as he lived. So Henry made the Bohemians tributaries and returned to Saxony.”

* This may be a fortress between Hof and Stauchitz on the river Jahna about southwest from Riesa. That Ganna was the seeress in Germania after Veleda we know from Tacitus. Ganna, Ganna and Poganie…

Tali lege ac disciplina cum cives assuefaceret, repente irruit super Sclavos qui dicuntur Hevelli, et multis eos preliis fatigans, demum hieme asperrima castris super glaciem positis cepit urbem quae dicitur Brennaburg fame ferro frigore. Cumque illa urbe potitus omnem regionem signa vertit contra Dalamantiam, adversus quam iam olim reliquit ei pater militiam; et obsidens urbem quae dicitur Gana, vicesima tandem die cepit eam. Preda urbis militibus tradita, puberes omnes interfecti, pueri ac puellae captivitati servatae. Post haec Pragam adiit cum omni exercitu, Boemiorum urbem, regemque eius in deditionem accepit; de quo quaedam mirabilia predicantur, quae quia non probamus, silentio tegi iudicamus. Frater tamen erat Bolizlavi qui quamdiu vixit imperatori fidelis et utilis mansit. Igitur rex Boemias tributarias faciens reversus est in Saxoniam.

Corvey abbey today

36. Regarding the Redarii and how they were defeated.

“And so after the following neighboring peoples were made tributaries by King Henry, namely the Obodrites, Wilzi, Hevelli, Daleminzi, Bohemians, and Redarii, and peace had been established, the Redarii rebelled. They mobilized a huge force and attacked a stronghold called Walsleben, which they captured, killing everyone living there, comprising a great multitude. All of the barbarian nations were inspired by this act, and dared to rebel as well.”

Cumque vicinae gentes a rege Heinrico factae essent tributariae, Apodriti, Wilti, Hevelli, Dalamanci, Boemi, Redarii, et pax esset, Redarii defecerunt a fide, et congregata multitudine inpetum fecerunt in urbem quae dicitur Wallislevu ceperuntque eam, captis et interfectis omnibus habitatoribus eius, innumerabili videlicet multitudine. Quo facto omnes barbarae nationes erectae iterum rebellare ausae sunt.

“In order to repress the ferocity of the barbarians, the expeditionary levy as well as a force of professional soldiers were dispatched under the command of Bernhard, who already held authority over the province of the Redarii. Thietmar also was dispatched to join the legate as a colleague. They were ordered to besiege the stronghold called Lenzen.”

Ad quarum ferocitatem reprimendam traditur exercitus cum presidio militari Bernhardo, cui ipsa Redariorum provincia erat sublegata, additurque legato collega Thiatmarus, et iubentur urbem obsidere quae dicitur Lunkini.

“On the fifth day of the siege, which was a Friday, scouts announced that an army of barbarians was not far off, and that the barbarians had decided to launch an attack on the Saxon encampment that night. After this had been confirmed by many others, the people believed the report, since it was corroborated. When the people had gathered around the tents of the legate, he issued orders following the advice that had been given to him that very hour by his colleague. The men were to remain prepared through the night in order to prevent a barbarian assault on their camp.”

Quinto obsidionis die venere custodes exercitum barbarorum non longe esse adnuntiantes, et quia nocte contigua inpetum in castra facere decrevissent. Cumque plures eadem confirmarent, populus fidem paribus dabat dictis. Et cum conventus esset populi circa tentoria legati, eadem hora collega dictante precepit, ut per totam noctem parati essent, ne qua forte irruptio barbarorum in castra fieret.

“When the large group of defenders had been ordered to stand down, emotions in camp were very mixed. Some were melancholy and others were happy. Some dreaded the battle and others were looking forward to it. The fighting men moved between hope and fear according to the nature of their personalities. In the meantime, the day went by, and the night was much darker than usual because of a huge rainstorm,. Thus, by God’s will, the evil plan of the barbarians was thwarted.”

Cum autem dimissa esset multitudo, in castris variavere moestitia pariter atque laetitia, aliis bellum formidantibus, aliis autem desiderantibus; et pro qualitate morum inter spem metumque versabantur bellatores. Interea dies transit, et nox solito tenebrosior cum ingenti pluvia adest nutu divino, quatinus consilium pessimum inpediretur barbarorum.

“As had been ordered, the Saxons remained armed throughout the night. Then at first light, after the signal had been given, they all received the sacrament. Then each man promised under oath, first to the commanders, and then to each other, that they wiuld do their duty in the resent battle. After the sun rose, for fine clear weather had returned after the rain storm, they raised their banners and marched out of camp. ”

Ut ergo iussum est, tota nocte illa armati erant Saxones, et primo diluculo dato signo sacramentoque accepto, primum ducibus, deinde unusquisque alteri operam suam sub iuramento promittebat ad presens bellum. Orto autem sole – nam post pluviam clara redit serenitas -, erectis signis procedebant castris.

“The legate, who was in the first rank, launched an attack against the barbarians. But he was not able to overcome the innumerable enemy with his small force. When he teruned to the army, he reported that the barbarians did not have many mounted men. However, because of their enormous number of men on foot, and because the rain the previous night had created such an obstacle, the enemy could not be drawn to engage in battle against his own mounted troops.”

In prima quidem fronte legatus in barbaros inpetum faciens, sed cum pauci non prevalerent adversus innumerabiles, reversus est ad exercitum referens, quia barbari non plures haberent equites, peditum vero innumerabilem multitudinem et nocturna pluvia in tantum inpeditam, ut vix ab equitibus coacti ad pugnam procederent.

“As the sun blazed down on the wet clothing of the barbarians, and made steams rise up to the sky, the people of God gained hope and faith as the brihgteness and serenity of His countenance shined around them. Then the signal was given, and the legate urged on the legions that charted with a great shout against the enemy. When it became clear that the great number of the enemy would not allow the Saxons to drive through them, they struyck then on the left and right with their weapons. Whenever they* were able to separate some of them** from their fellows, they killed them all.”

* Saxons
** Slavs

Igitur sole cadente in humida vestimenta barbarorum, fumum ascendere fecit usque in caelum, spem fiduciamque prestans Dei populo, cuius faciei claritas atque serenitas circumfulsit illos. Igitur dato signo et exhortante legiones legato cum clamore valido irruunt in hostes. Cumque nimia densitate iter pertranseundi hostes non pateret, dextra laevaque ferro erumpentes, quoscumque a sociis secernebant, neci dabant.

“As the battle intensified with many dead on each side, and the barbarians still managing to maintain their formation , the legate ordered his colleague to provide support to the legions. So Thietmar dispatched a commander with fifty heavily armed mounted troops against the enemy’s flank and disrupted their entire formation. From this point on, the enemy faced only flight and death. When they had been slaughtered through the fields, some of the survivors attempted to flee to the fortress. But the colleague prevented them from doing this, so they entered a nearby lake. So it happened that of this enormous multitude, almost all were killed by the sword or drowned in the lake. None of the foot soldiers survived, and just a few of the enemy mounted troops. The battled ended with the defeat of all of their adversaries.”

Cumque iam bellum gravaretur, et multi hinc atque inde caderent, et adhuc barbari ordines tenerent, legatus collegam, ut legionibus auxilio esset, expostulat. Ille vero prefectum cum quinquaginta armatis lateri hostili inmisit et ordines conturbavit; ex hoc caedi fugaeque tota die hostes patebant. Cum ergo per omnes agros caederentur, ad urbem vicinam fugere temptabant. Collega autem hoc eis precavente, proximum mare ingressi sunt, et ita factum est, ut omnis illa nimia multitudo aut gladio consumeretur aut in mari mergeretur. Nec peditum ullus superfuit, equitum rarissimus, deponiturque bellum cum casu omnium adversariorum

“There was a huge burst of joy following the victory. Everyone praised the commanders, and each of the soldiers praised his fellows. Even the cowards enjoyed some praise, as often happened when there is such good fortune. The next day, they marched to the aforementioned fortress. The defenders lay down their arms and asked only for their lives. They received this. The unarmed men were ordered to depart the city. However, the slaves, and all of the money along with the wives, children and goods of the king of the barbarians were carried into captivity. On our side, two men named Liuthar died, along with manny other noblemen. The legate, his colleague, and other commanders returned to Saxony as victors. They were received honorably by the king and given all due praise since with God’s favor and mercy their small forces had gained a magnificent victory. The next day, all of the captives, as they had promised, were beheaded.”*

* As the editors note, “[t]his is the first reference to the beheading of captives, and it is not clear whether it refers to the slaves and royal family taken at Lenzen, to the captives taken in the battle, or to both.”

Ingens interea oritur laetitia ex recenti victoria, dum omnes laudant duces, unusquisque vero militum predicat alium, ignavum quoque, ut in tali fortuna solet fieri. Postera autem luce movent signa urbi prefatae; urbani vero arma deponunt, salutem tantummodo deposcunt ac merentur. Inermes igitur urbe egredi iussi; servilis autem conditio et omnis pecunia cum uxoribus et filiis et omni suppellectili barbarorum regis captivitatem subibant. Ceciderunt etiam ex nostris in illo prelio duo Liutharii et alii nobiles viri nonnulli. Igitur legatus cum collega et aliis principibus Saxoniam victores reversi honorifice a rege sunt suscepti satisque laudati, qui parvis copiis divina. favente clementia magnificam perpetraverint victoriam. Nam fuere qui dicerent barbarorum ducenta milia caesa. Captivi omnes postera die, ut promissum habebant, obtruncati.

38. The king’s speech and how he defeated the Hungarians in an open battle.

“…After these events, the Hungarian legates came to the king to receive their customary gifts. But they departed from him to return to their own land empty-handed. When they heard this, the Avars did not delay. They hurried to enter Saxony with a large hostile force. They took the route through Daleminzia and sought help from the old friends. But they*, knowing that the Hungarians were hurrying to Saxony, and that the Saxons were ready to fight them, gave a very fat dog to the Hungarians as their gift. The Hungarians did not have time to avenge this insult as they were hurrying on to a different fight. For quite a while the Daleminzi pursued their ‘friends’ while mocking them…”

* Daleminzi.

“…Post haec legati Ungariorum adierunt regem pro solitis muneribus, sed ab eo spreti in terram suam vacui sunt reversi. Haec audientes Avares, nichil morati cum gravi hostilique manu festinant intrare Saxoniam. Et iter agentes per Dalamantiam ab antiquis opem petunt amicis. Illi vero scientes eos festinare ad Saxoniam Saxonesque ad pugnandum cum eis paratos, pinguissimum pro munere eis proiciunt canem. Et cum non esset iniuriam vindicandi locus ad aliam pugnam festinantibus, cum ridiculosa satis vociferatione longius prosequuntur amicos…”

Corvey on a map from 1620

Slavs Being Drung Nach Westen

PublishedJune 4, 2016 Post authortorino

After publishing his study “About the Slavs who once lived between the Rhine and the Elbe, Saale and Czech borderlands” (O Słowianach, mieszkających niegdyś między Renem a Łabą, Salą i czeską granicą), Wojciech Kętrzyński went on a book tour and gave a speech regarding the reasons for having written his pamphlet. A portion of that speech is worth quoting here:

***************

“It is well known that there is currently a debate as to when the Slavs settled the wide spaces they currently hold, for according to theories proposed by Deutsche scholars all of Central Europe was previously held by Deutsche nations.* There was, thus, no room for the Slavs, who could only have moved into these spaces [according to the Deutsche theories] once the Deutsche left them, which is supposed to have happened in the 6th, though maybe already in the 4th century A.D.”

[* note: Kętrzyński uses the Slavic word niemiecki for the common English adjective “German”. For the sake of clarity, we thought of retaining the usage of the word “German” in this translation. In light of Ketrzynski’s arguments, however, at least in this article it seemed hardly fair to let a people who’ve always called themselves just Deutsche appropriate the word German or Germanic entirely for themselves.]

“From the Slavic side there was frequently opposition to such a theory, though [such opposition] was not always effective. So too the little pamphlet of this author “Die Lygier” [“The Lugians” though it should be “The Legians” legiorum!], published in 1868, had the same goal and the same result, i.e., it remained completely unaddressed. To this day one opinion meets another opinion though the Deutsche are in ascendance for they fight using linguistic evidence, which tend to impress, for no one can challenge them [i.e., without also assailing linguistic theories]; it is on such [linguistic theories] that they build their hypotheses and to fit such [linguistic] theories do they correct the [writings of] ancient authors; and yet linguistic evidence, in and of itself, cannot serve to establish a sufficient historical proof but rather can only be an additional, auxiliary argument.”

“It is for this reason that the author believed, that the entire matter should be placed on a new foundation which in the here mentioned work I’ve tried to do.”

***************

“It has been known for quite a long time that the Elbe and Saale as also the Czech [Bohemian] border did not separate the Slavic and Deutsch peoples but that even beyond this line towards the West there exist Slavic place names. It is for this reason that the author decided to collect them all in one place, taking into account primarily the suffix itz [Deutsch] = ica, ici, ice [Slavic], as also names such as Winden, Wenden and those containing them, which the Deutsch scholars too have agreed indicate Slavic settlements.”

“The author was able in the process to gather together approximately 800 such names between the Rhine and the above-mentioned [Elbe-Saale] line, between the North Sea and the Alps; their placement has been shown on 4 maps.”

“Deutsche scholars explain this phenomenon in two ways: 1) they claim that they [the Deutsche] so love foreign names [!] that they immediately Ge-deutsch them as their own; 2) usually, however, they assert that these were Slavic colonies, formed under orders of the Deutsch masters, among the Deutsche.”

“As regards the first point, the author shows [in his pamphlet] that Deutsche, everywhere where they encountered the Slavs (and also too in places where the Slavs had not been conquered by the Deutsche) they Ge-deutsched local place names, the proof of this stretches from Czechia, to Silesia to West Prussia and so forth, as it is also shown in the current behaviour of Deutsche regarding Polish place names.”

“Villages, founded by war prisoners and other unfree peoples in areas that were supposedly purely Deutsch could not have had Slavic names since what a place was called was in the oldest times determined by the surroundings [peoples?], later still by the lord and owner but a slave without any rights could neither force his will nor his language onto the locally dominant peoples/nation.”

“Villages, even in otherwise Slavic parts, that were founded by unfree Slavs but established for a Deutsch master, received Deutsche names.”

“Thus, if such place names could not have come about during the time of Deutsche dominance over the Slavs, their origin must predate such time…”

***************

The talk given by Kętrzyński continues but for the purposes of this post, we do not need to continue with it. Suffice it to say that the same Deutsche arguments that so annoyed Kętrzyński over a century ago are to this day made by various German scholars. So, for example, we have this from Roland Steinacher’s brief summary (Wenden, Slawen, Vandale, Eine fruehmittelalterliche pseudologische Gleichsetzung und Ihre Nachwirkungen) of his longer doctoral theses:

“Such toponyms are to be found also far removed from the Slavic settlement area and show the settlement of Slavic servants by Frankish landowners.”

Steinacher, like his predecessors over a century ago, neither disputes the Slavic character of such villages nor offers proof for the old theory that these were “new” settlements of Slavic war captives. Of course, that theory is based on nothing other than the supposition that this must be the case because the alternative (Ketrzynski’s, i.e., that these were remnants of Slavic villages dating to Roman and pre-Roman times) would upend at least two centuries (but not much more – pre-19th century scholars displayed a more modest approach and showed less blind certitude!) of German scholarship.

Incidentally, Steinacher is also an author of a new book about the Vandals which, thankfully, begins its tale in the 4th century. Here he appears mildly wistful but, in the end, mostly resists the urge to write his Vandalic history in the subjunctive:

“If one could factually establish a connection between the Vandili of Plinius and Tacitus and the Przeworsk culture, were these peoples connected with those who hundreds of years later appeared on the Danube and the Rhein and eventually conquered Carthage, then the Vandals would have had a long pre-history. But such connections are not provable.”

As we know, there is no mention of Vandals, as a people, by Tacitus and Pliny’s slim mention of Burgundians (though in all but one Ptolemaic manuscript – Buguntians without an “r”!) provides only the most ephemeral evidence of Vandals being in Poland (as opposed to somewhere in the Elbe area – which, if they came from Vendsyssel, would seem the logical place to put them). In any event, Steinacher, notwithstanding his silly repetition of the “merry Slavic captives” theory, scores here a touch above Wolfram whose work on the topic is in the realm of historical fiction.

The Gods and Holy Places of the Knýtlinga Saga

PublishedMay 30, 2016 Post authortorino

Knýtlinga saga (The Saga of Cnut’s Descendants) is an Icelandic saga written in the 1250s, which covers a long period of Denmark’s history (from the early 10th century story of Harald Gormsson “Bluetooth” till the end of the 12th). The Cnut or Canute of the saga is probably the legendary Harthacnut (Cnut I or Canute I). (The alternative title might be the Lives of the Kings of the Danes – not to be confused with Saxo’s Gesta Danorum).

The story most likely came to Iceland by virtue of the efforts of Óláfr Þórðarson (the nephew of the famed Icelandic writer Snorri). Óláfr traveled to Norway and then Denmark where he stayed at the court of Valdemar II (the son of Valdemar I who had conquered Arkona). If Þórðarson is really the author of the Knýtlinga saga then the pagan references in the Knýtlinga saga (as the saga itself obviously) are younger than Saxo Grammaticus’ chapters in Gesta Danorum (Saxo died about 40 years before the assumed composition date of the Knýtlinga saga) which we presented here. Nevertheless, spending time at the Danish court may have given Óláfr an opportunity to access additional sources or hear more tales.

In the saga, Svantovit is represented as Svanteviz but five other Gods are also mentioned: the trio of Rinvit, Turupid and Puruvit – corresponding, presumably to Rugievit, Porenut and Porevit; but also Pizamar (in Jasmund) and Tjarnoglofi, the Rugian’s God of War (who “went” with them on military expeditions – recall Thietmar’s discussion (at 8, 64) of the Veletian campaign alongside the Germans where the Slavic Goddess had been “disrespected” by a German commanded and the Emperor had to figure out a way to placate his allies). Neither Pizamar nor Tjarnoglofi are mentioned elsewhere. Whether the latter had anything to do with Thietmar’s Cernobog or with the famous Pomeranian Triglaf (described, for example, here and here and here; other sources elsewhere on this site) or was (either as a result of a conscious decision of the local religious leaders or the confusion of the Danes in telling the stories) a combination of the two, we do not even begin to guess. Whether Boka (Böku) is another deity or just a sacred grove of some unspecified God, we likewise do not know.

The English translation of the saga is connected with another Canute – Canute IV (circa 1042 – 10 July 1086) who was king of Denmark and later got himself canonized and became the patron saint of Denmark. His path led, of course, via martyrdom. Specifically, Canute died during a peasant revolt which broke out on (appropriately) Vendsyssel. The King escaped to Saint Alban’s priory at Odense where the peasant rebels caught up with him and made him a martyr in 1086. The 900th anniversary of Canute’s death was celebrated in 1986 by the city of Odense (where he is buried at Odense Cathedral) as a major event. As part of the celebrations, the town notables convinced two professors, Hermann Pállsson (of Iceland) and Paul Edwards (a professor with varied interests at the University of Edinburgh – where the two professors probably met) to translate the Knýtlinga saga into English. Pálsson and Edwards translation is the only known English translation to date.

With all that in mind here is the invasion of Arkona as told in the Knýtlinga saga (as regards the Slavic Gods we follow the translators and give the Old Norse version below):

English

Section 101
King Eirik in Wendland

“King Eirik the Unforgotten, once he felt secure in his kingdom, was harsh and severe with the people of Denmark. His own brother, Harald Kesja, and two of his sons Eirik had put to death along with many other friends of King Nikulas. It was one year after the death of King Nikulas that Harald Kresja was killed.”

“A year later, King Eirik took his army to Wendland, plundering far and wide and causing great havoc. He took a town called Arkona where the people were heathen, but by the time he left they had the whole population of the town baptized before he returned to Denmark. But immediately the king had gone they renounced the faith and returned to the offering and sacrifice and other heathen practices.”

Section 121
Plundering in Wendland

“Towards the end of winter, Valdimar raised yet another levy for a seafaring expedition and sailed to Rugen. They went ashore at Strele to a certain sacred grove called Boka where they set fire to and burnt everything apart from the people and the cattle, which they drove to the ships. Then they went to another part of Valong and burnt the place down, then to Vik where they set everything ablaze all the way to the market place. From there they rowed over to Hiddensee and lay there at anchor for twenty days, resting.”

“After that, the king asked Absalon to sail on ahead , while he and the Jutes moved up to Strele. When dusk began to fall, the bishop rowed with his troops past the king over to Parez, then set up to a town called Gartz, where the Wends confronted them and at once began to attack the bishop by a certain lake. It was a great battle and many fell in it but the bishop won the victory. Eleven hundred men had been killed on the side of the Wends, but only one man on the bishop’s, though two of the bishop’s men died by drowning in a swimming match. Later the bishop rode out to his ships. As they were cantering aboard, King Valdimar came up to ask what they had been working at and the bishop told him. The king gave him generous thanks for this victory and then they all travelled together to Strele. The Isle-Danes had by now laid hands on a great deal of booty, and the Jutes were envious, saying that the Isle-Danes took everything while the Jutes lost everything but they did not risk saying this in the king’s hearing.”

“Afterwards the king went with an army to Jasmund and harried there, killing a chieftain called Dalemar and seizing all the people there and cattle. Next they went to Hiddensee where the Rugians came to the king begging for mercy: they handed over hostages, paid him all the tribute he asked for, and swore their allegiance. After that, the king went back to Denmark.”

Section 122
Pagan Idols in Wendland

“King Valdimar gave his son Kristoforus authority in Jutland: he was a powerful man ad had a dukedom at Hedeby and associated districts.”

“While he ruled over the kingdom, King Valdimar was always a busy man, having led eight expeditions to Rugen [Rugia] before winning control of it.”

“One winter around the time of Lent, Duke Kristoforus and Bishop Absalon went to Svold River and set everything ablaze as far as Tribuzis so that the place lay desolate for many years after. They remained weather-bound for twenty days in the River Svold with a fearful gale but then they got a favourable wind and sailed back home.”

“After this, everything was quiet for three years until the Rugians once again broke the agreement made earlier. So King Valdimar had to make yet another levy for an expedition by sea, sailing to Rugen and arriving on Whit Sunday to take the town of Arkona, mentioned earlier. Then Tetizlaf, King of the Rugians, and his brother Jarmar, and all their leading men came to King Valdimar, surrendering themselves and their country into his power and telling he could do whatever he wished with them. Then the king told them to embrace Christianity, for the land had been heathen ever since they renounced the Christian faith they received when Eirik the Unforgotten had them baptized on the conquest of the town of Arkona, as described earlier. They said they would now do as the king and Bishop Absalon had asked.”

“Then the king ordered Soni Ebbason and others with him to go into the town of Arkona to the temple there, cut down the god called Svantaviz, drag it out of the town and plunder the temple of anything valuable. As the townspeople feared the angrier of the god they would not dare cut him down, but bishop Svein and Soni Ebbason came and cut down the god, then put a rope round his neck and forced the Rugians themselves to drag him outside. Once he was out, the heather were all amazed that he was unable to help himself and had less faith in him than before. After that, men came up and hacked him apart and burned him under their cauldrons; then the Rugians realised they had been deceived and no longer believed in him. Bishop Absalon and all the clergy converted the people to Christianity, baptizing thirteen hundred ain one day, and when they left, the people agreed to give their obedience to the king and the bishop.”

“Next morning the king went to the place called Gartz and had three idols cut down, called Rinvit, Turupid and Puruvit. These idols caused strange things to happen: if any man had intercourse with a woman inside the town the two were stuck together like dogs and were unable to go free until they left the town. On the day their idols were destroyed, nine hundred people converted to Christianity and eleven graveyards were consecrated. A great deal of wealth was taken from the gods, gold and silver, silks and furs and costly fabrics, helmets and swords, tailcoats and all kinds of weapons. The fifth god was called Pizamar from a place called Jasmund, and was destroyed by fire, There was also Tjarnaglofi, their god of victory who went with them on military campaigns. He had a moustache of silver and resisted longer than the others buyt they managed to get him there years later. Altogether, they christened five thousand on this expedition. King Valdimar, Bishop Absalon and all the troops now returned home.”

Old Norse

Section 101

Herferð Eiríks konungs

Eiríkr eymuni var harðr ok stirðr við fólk alt í Danmörk, þegar hann þóttiz festaz í ríkinu; hann lét drepa Harald kesju, bróður sinn, ok sonu hans II ok marga aðra vini Níkuláss konungs. Þat var einum vetri eptir fall Níkuláss konungs, er Haraldr kesja var drepinn.

En vetri síðar fór Eiríkr konungr til Vinðlands með her sinn ok herjaði þar víða ok vann þar mikit hervirki; hann vann þar stað þann, er Arkún heitir; þat fólk var heiðit, er þann stað bygði. Eiríkr konungr fór svá þaðan, at þeir tóku áðr við kristni, er eigi váru drepnir af heiðnum mönnum, ok lét konungr kristna alt fólk í staðinum; fór hann síðan heim til Danmerkr. En þegar konungr var í brottu þaðan, þá köstuðu þeir aptr kristni ok efldu síðan blót ok heiðinn sið.

Section 121

Frá Valdimar konungi

En er vetrinn leið af, bauð Valdimarr enn út leiðangri ok fór til Réinga ok lögðu upp á Strælu við blótlund einn, er heitir Böku, ok brendu þar alt ok bældu, en tóku fólk ok fé ok fóru til skipa með. Ok þá lögðu þeir upp á annan veg á Valung ok brendu þar ok fóru þaðan til Víkr ok brendu landit alt til torgs þeirra.Þaðan reru þeir til Heðinseyjar ok lágu þar II nætr ok hvílduz. Þá bað konungr Absalón biskup fyrri fara, en konungr ok Jótar lögðuz þá upp við Strælu;

en er røkkva tók, reri biskup upp með sínu liði fram um konunginn til Parez ok reið síðan upp til borgar þeirrar, er heitir Garðz, en þar kómu Vinðr í móti þeim ok réðu þegar til orrostu við biskup ok börðuz við vatn eitt; þar varð mikil orrosta ok mannfall mikit, ok hafði biskup sigr, en þar fell af Vinðum XI hundruð manna, en einn maðr af biskupi; en II menn fóruz á kafi af biskups mönnum, er reyndu sund með sér fyrir kapps sakir. Síðan reið biskup út til skipa sinna, en er þeir hleyptu hestunum út á skipin, þá kom Valdimarr konungr þar ok spurði, hvat þeir hefði sýslat, en biskup sagði honum. Konungr þakkaði fögrum orðum sigr þenna, ok fara síðan allir samt til Strælu. Eylendingar höfðu nú fengit hlutskipti mikit, en Jótar lögðu þar öfund á ok sögðu, at Eylendingar fengu alls, en Jótar misstu; en þeir þorðu þó eigi at mæla þetta, svá at konungr heyrði. Eptir þat fór konungr með herinn til Ásund ok herjaði þar; þar drápu þeir höfðingja þann, er Dalemarr hét, ok tóku þar fólk alt ok fé ok fóru síðan til Heðinseyjar. Þar kómu Réingar til móts við konung ok báðu sér miskunnar ok settu honum gísla ok gáfu honum skatta slíka, sem hann kvað á, ok játuðu konungi hlýðni. Fór konungr heim til Danmerkr eptir þetta.

Section 122

Valdimarr konungr gaf Kristófóró syni sínum ríki á Jótlandi; hafði hann hertogadóm í Heiðabœ ok þat ríki, sem þar fylgir; hann var ríkr maðr. Valdimarr konungr hafði jafnan starfsamt, meðan hann réð ríkinu; hann hafði VIII leiðangra til Réinga, áðr hann vann landit. Einn vetr um föstu fór Kristófórús hertogi ok Absalón biskup til Svöldrs ok brendu þar alt upp til Tribuzis, svá at þar lá autt marga vetr síðan; þá lágu þeir XX nætr veðrfastir í ánni Svöldr í óveðrani miklu ok fengu síðan byr ok fóru heim. Eptir þetta stóð kyrrt III vetr, áðr* Réingar rufu enn þá sætt, sem fyrr var gör. Þá bauð Valdimarr konungr enn út leiðangri ok fór til Réinga ok kom þar at hvíta sunnudegi ok vann borgina Arkún, er fyrr var nefnd. Þá kom til Valdimars konungs Tétizláfr, er var konungr þeirra, ok Jarmarr, bróðir hans, ok allir enir beztu menn af Réingum ok gáfu þá landit ok sjálfa sik í vald Valdimars konungs ok báðu hann gera af slíkt, er hann vildi. Þá bauð konungr þeim at taka við kristni, þvíat þar var jafnan heiðit, síðan þeir köstuðu aptr kristni, þá er Eiríkr konungr eymuni lét skíra þá, þá er hann vann borgina Arkún, sem fyrr var sagt; þeir sögðuz nú gera vildu, sem konungr beiddi ok Absalón biskup.

Þá kvaddi konungr til Sóna Ebbason ok menn með honum at ganga í borgina Arkún ok til hofs þess, er þar var, ok bað hann höggva niðr goðit, er Svanraviz* [or Svaravist?] hét, ok draga þat út af borginni, en ræna hofit öllu, því er fémætt er; en þeir, er fyrir váru í borginni, þorðu eigi at draga hann út, ok hrædduz þeir mjök reiði hans. Þá gekk til Sveinn biskup ok Sóni Ebbason ok hjoggu niðr goðit; síðan lögðu þeir reip um háls honum ok neyddu Réinga sjálfa at draga hann út; en er hann kom út, undruðuz allir heiðingjar, er hann mátti þá ekki hjálpa sjálfum sér, ok trúðu minnr á hann en fyrr.

Þá gengu menn til ok klufu hann í sundr ok brendu hann undir kötlum sínum. Sá þá Réingar, at þeir váru sviknir, ok trúðu ekki á hann síðan. En Absalón biskup ok allir lærðir menn kristnuðu fólkit ok skírðu XIII hundruð einn dag, ok fóru svá þaðan, at þeir játuðu konungi hlýðni ok svá biskupi. En um morgininn eptir fóru þeir konungr til þess staðar, er Karenz heitir, ok lét hann þar höggva niðr þrjú skurðgoð, er svá hétu: Rinvit, Turupið ok Puruvit; en skurðgoð þessi gerðu svá mikil undr, at þegar, ef nökkurr maðr átti samlag við konu innan borgar, þá loddu þau saman sem hundar, ok eigi losnuðu þau, fyrr en þau kómu út af borginni. En þann dag, er þessi skurðgoð váru brend, þá kristnuðu þeir IX hundruð ok vígðu XI kirkjugarða. Þar tóku þeir mikit fé af goðunum, bæði gull og silfr, silki og pell ok guðvef, hjálma ok sverð, brynjur ok allskonar vápn. Et fimmta goð hét Pizamarr; hann var á Ásund, svá heitir einn staðr; hann var ok brendr.

Þá hét ok Tjarnaglófi, hann var sigrgoð þeirra, ok fór hann í herfarar með þeim; hann hafði kanpa af silfri; hann helz lengst við, en þó fengu þeir hann á þriðja vetri þar eptir; en þeir kristnuðu alls á landinu V þúsundir í þeirri ferð. Eptir þat fór Valdimarr konungr heim ok Absalón biskup ok allr herrinn.

Year 771 Annals

Year 772 Annals

Year 772 Chronicle

Post Scriptum

Year 771
Annals

Year 772
Annals

Year 772
Chronicle