1.
Legendary saga
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A legendary saga or fornaldarsaga is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders sagas, takes place before the colonization of Iceland. There are some exceptions, such as Yngvars saga víðförla, which place in the 11th century. The sagas were probably all written in Iceland, from about the middle of the 13th century to about 1400, although it is possible that some may be of a later date, such as Hrólfs saga kraka. In terms of form, fornaldarsögur are similar to various other saga-genres, like sagas in other genres, many quote verse, but in the fornaldarsögur that verse is almost invariably in the metre of Eddaic verse. There are also very often mythological elements, such as dwarves, elves, giants, in centuries past, they were considered to be reliable historic sources by Scandinavian scholars, but since the 19th century, they have been considered to contain very little historic material. e. Iceland in the later Middle Ages and they may also be treated in a comic or parodic vein. In the case of Hervarar saga, it conveys names of places in Ukraine during the period c. 150-450, and the last part of the saga is used as a source for Swedish history. Other sagas deal with such as Ragnar Lodbrok, Hrólf Kraki. In these respects, then, the overlap in genre. They are also of value for scholars studying medieval Scandinavian ballads, particularly the Faroese kvæði. Moreover, they are very important for the study of Scandinavian and Germanic heroic legends together with Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum which was based on the same heroic poetry. Philologists have generally held the legendary sagas in less esteem, in terms of their literary value, the content is often less realistic, the characters more two-dimensional, and the sagas often borrow themes from each other, and from folk tales. In these aspects of style and reception, the fornaldarsögur tend to overlap with the Chivalric sagas, the legendary sagas have influenced later writers, for instance the Swede Esaias Tegnér, who wrote Frithiofs saga, based on the Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. Áns saga bogsveigis Ásmundar saga kappabana - A saga based on the German Lay of Hildebrand, bósa saga ok Herrauðs - like Beowulf it has Geatish heroes. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks - a saga which may be of Swedish origin containing Swedish, Geatish and this saga still serves as a source for Swedish historians. Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar - A saga about a Swedish warrior princess who is won by a Geatish prince, Hrólfs saga kraka, A saga which is related to the Old English poem Beowulf. Hrómundar saga Gripssonar Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra A saga of the traditional fairy tale kind
2.
Vikings
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The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century, current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. One etymology derives víking from the feminine vík, meaning creek, inlet, various theories have been offered that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Viken, meaning a person from Viken. According to this theory, the word simply described persons from this area, however, there are a few major problems with this theory. People from the Viken area were not called Viking in Old Norse manuscripts, in addition, that explanation could only explain the masculine and ignore the feminine, which is a serious problem because the masculine is easily derived from the feminine but hardly vice versa. The form also occurs as a name on some Swedish rune stones. There is little indication of any negative connotation in the term before the end of the Viking Age and this is found in the Proto-Nordic verb *wikan, ‘to turn’, similar to Old Icelandic víkja ‘to move, to turn’, with well-attested nautical usages. In that case, the idea behind it seems to be that the rower moves aside for the rested rower on the thwart when he relieves him. A víkingr would then originally have been a participant on a sea journey characterized by the shifting of rowers, in that case, the word Viking was not originally connected to Scandinavian seafarers but assumed this meaning when the Scandinavians begun to dominate the seas. In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, in Old English, and in the history of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen written by Adam of Bremen in about 1070, the term generally referred to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. As in the Old Norse usages, the term is not employed as a name for any people or culture in general, the word does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts. The Vikings were known as Ascomanni ashmen by the Germans for the ash wood of their boats, Lochlannach by the Gaels, the modern day name for Sweden in several neighbouring countries is possibly derived from rōþs-, Ruotsi in Finnish and Rootsi in Estonian. The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians, Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard. The Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were known as Danes or heathen. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon, similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history, Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century, in that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe
3.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
4.
Ingvar the Far-Travelled
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Ingvar the Far-Travelled led an unsuccessful large Viking attack against Persia in 1036–1042. The Rus undertook several Caspian expeditions in the course of the 10th century, the Yngvars saga víðförla describes the last Viking campaign in the Caspian in 1041, adding much legend to the historical facts. Ingvar the Far-Travelled launched this expedition from Sweden, travelling down the Volga River into the land of the Saracens, while there, the Vikings apparently took part in the Georgian-Byzantine Battle of Sasireti in Georgia. A stone to Ingvar’s brother indicates that he went east for gold and these three annals are probably based on Sturla Þórðarsons compilation. There are three theories on Ingvars origin, a second theory suggests that Ingvar was the son of a Swedish prince named Eymundr and who would have been the son of Eric the Victorious and the brother of Olof Skötkonung. The existence of this prince Eymundr has been suggested by Lauritz Weibull, Emund the Old would have had two wives, Tola and Ragnhildr. Tola would have been the mother of Haraldr of Sö179, Önundr would be Anund Gårdske, who was raised in Russia, Eirík would be one of the two pretenders named Eric, Hákon would be Håkan the Red and Ingvar, Ingvar the Far-Travelled. And Önundr would gladly give up all his realm if he had allowed to bargain for Yngvarrs life. It is possible that it was King Anund Jakob or his brother, the participants were evenly distributed along the husbys, and 24 of the 26 Ingvar runestones were from Sweden and 2 from the Geatish district of Östergötland. The folkland of Attundaland did not take part and this was probably done on purpose in order to keep an army in Sweden. Anund Jacob was the brother of Ingegerd Olofsdotter who was married to Yaroslav I of Novgorod and this was done with the help of Varangians, and according to Ingvars saga, they were led by Ingvars father Eymund. In 1030, he had visited Ani, the capital of the Armenian Kingdom, later Yaroslav had trouble with the Pechenegs, a nomad tribe. According to the legendary saga about Ingvar, only one ship returned, the 26 remaining rune stones testify to this as no one mentions a surviving participant. Vikings Varangians Caspian expeditions of the Rus Fischer, Svante, larsson, Mats G. Ett ödesdigert vikingatåg. Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, ISBN 0-674-64465-4 Thunberg, Carl L. Ingvarståget och dess monument. En studie av en runstensgrupp med förslag till ny gruppering, the Saga of Yngvar the Traveller. Ingvarsstenarna i tid och rum Carl L. Thunberg
5.
Saracen
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Saracen was a term widely used among Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ages. The terms meaning evolved during its history, in Europe during the Early Medieval era, the term came to be associated with Arab tribes as well. By the 12th century, Saracen had become synonymous with Muslim in Medieval Latin literature, such expansion in the meaning of the term had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Romans, as evidenced in documents from the 8th century. In the Western languages before the 16th century, Saracen was commonly used to refer to Muslim Arabs, the term Saraceni might be derived from the Semitic triliteral root srq signifies to steal, rob, plunder. The noun sāriq - sariqīn means, ptolemys 2nd century work, Geography, describes Sarakēnē as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakēnoi living in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, the Augustan History also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Nigers army in Egypt in 193, but provides little information as to identifying them. Both Hippolytus of Rome and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the century, the Saraceni, the Taeni. The Taeni, later identified with the Arabic-speaking people called Tayy, were located around Khaybar, the Saraceni were placed north of them. These Saracens, located in the northern Hejaz, were described as people with a certain military ability who were opponents of the Roman Empire, the Saracens are described as forming the equites from Phoenicia and Thamud. In one document the defeated enemies of Diocletians campaign in the Syrian Desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th century military reports make no mention of Arabs but refer to as Saracens groups ranging as far east as Mesopotamia that were involved in battles on both the Sasanian and Roman sides. The Saracens were named in the Roman administrative document Notitia Dignitatum—dating from the time of Theodosius I in the 4th century—as comprising distinctive units in the Roman army and they were distinguished in the document from Arabs. Beginning no later than the fifth century, Christian writers began to equate Saracens with Arabs. Saracens were associated with Ishmaelites in some strands of Jewish, Christian and this claim was popular during the Middle Ages, but derives more from Paul’s allegory in the New Testament letter to the Galatians than from historical data. The name Saracen was not indigenous among the populations so described but was applied to them by Greco-Roman historians based on Greek place names. As the Middle Ages progressed, usage of the term in the Latin West changed, but its connotation remained negative, associated with opponents of Christianity, in an 8th-century polemical work, John of Damascus criticized the Saracens as followers of a false prophet and forerunner to the Antichrist. By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans had more specific conceptions of Islam and used the term Saracen as an ethnic, in some Medieval literature, Saracens—that is, Muslims—were described as black-skinned, while Christians were lighter-skinned. An example is in The King of Tars, a medieval romance, the Song of Roland, an Old French 11th-century heroic poem, refers to the black skin of Saracens as their only exotic feature
6.
Serkland
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In Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones, Særkland or Serkland was the name of the Abbasid Caliphate and probably some neighbouring Muslim regions. Despite the obvious similarity to Saracen, the place-name is likely derived from serkr and land, notably one of the Ingvar runestones, the Sö179, raised circa 1040 at Gripsholm Castle, commemorates a Varangian loss during an ill-fated raid in Serkland. The other remaining runestones that talk of Serkland are Sö131, Sö279, Sö281, for a detailed account of such raids, see Caspian expeditions of the Rus. Several sagas mention Serkland, Ynglinga saga, Sörla saga sterka, Sörla þáttr, Saga Sigurðar Jórsalafara and it is also mentioned by the 11th century skald Þórgils Fiskimaðr, and the 12th century skald Þórarinn Stuttfeldr. Garðaríki Vinland Names of Istanbul#Old Norse Ture Johnsson Arne, särkland och dess källmaterial This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain
7.
Georgia (country)
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Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres, and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy, during the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century, a unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under hegemony of various powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire. Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various treaties with Iran. Since the establishment of the modern Georgian republic in April 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil, the countrys Western orientation soon led to the worsening of relations with Russia, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and it contains two de facto independent regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a part of the international community consider the regions to be part of Georgias sovereign territory under Russian military occupation. Georgia probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – gurğān, in the 11th and 12th centuries adapted via Syriac gurz-ān/gurz-iyān, starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān, the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspian region. The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi, the medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos, a great-grandson of Japheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts, the name Sakartvelo consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i, specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli, ancient Greeks and Romans referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians. Today the full, official name of the country is Georgia, before the 1995 constitution came into force the countrys name was the Republic of Georgia. The territory of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era, the proto-Georgian tribes first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. The earliest evidence of wine to date has found in Georgia. In fact, early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, the classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which was Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east
8.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
