TRADERS AND TRADING-SHIPS.
Wide extent of trading expeditions—Commercial activity of the
people—Fairs—Immunity of trading ships from capture—Classification
and name of merchant vessels—Trade a high calling—Kings as
traders—Laws regulating trade—The earliest medium of
exchange—Method of reckoning—Weights and measures—Arabic and other
coins and objects—Insurance.
The people of the North were, from very early times, great traders, and
as such undertook long voyages, as is seen from the finds of the earlier
iron age, and from many accounts in the Sagas; this ancient trait in
their character is still seen in their descendants.
Their trading expeditions extended far south through the present Russia,
to the Black Sea, the Tigris and Euphrates, and as far east as
Samarcand; while with their ships they traded to the seas of Western
Europe and into the Mediterranean.
“Thórólf had a large seagoing ship; in every way it was most carefully
built, and painted nearly all over above the water-line; it had a sail
with blue and red stripes, and all the rigging was very elaborate. This
he made ready, and ordered his men-servants to go with it; he had put on
board dried fish, skins, tallow, gray fur and other furs, which he had
from the mountains; all this was of much value. He sent it westward to
England to buy cloth (woollen) and other goods he needed. They went
southward along the coast, and then out to sea; when they arrived in
England they found a good market, loaded the ship with wheat and honey,
wine and cloth, and returned in the autumn with fair winds” (Egil’s
Saga).
“From England (London) Gunnlaug sailed with some traders to Dublin. King
Sigtrygg Silk-beard, son of Olaf Kvaran and Queen Kormlöd then ruled in
Ireland”[167] (Gunnlaug Ormstunga, c. 8).
“In the spring, after the Jómsviking battle, the Jarl summoned before
him many chiefs east in the country. Thither also came at the Jarl’s
summons the brothers Jóstein and Karlshöfud, sons of Eirik of Ofrustad.
There was also a man, by name of Thórir Klakka, a great friend of the
Jarl. He was accustomed to go on Viking expeditions in the summer, but
sometimes he went on trading journeys, and therefore he knew many
countries” (Olaf Tryggvason, c. 51 (Heimskringla)).
“Some time after King Sverrir held a Thing in Björgyn (Bergen) and
spoke: ‘We thank all English men who bring hither wheat and honey, flour
or cloth, for coming; we thank also all men who bring hither linen, wax
or kettles. We will also name those who have come from the Orkneys,
Hjaltland, Faroes, Iceland, and all who bring into this country things
useful for it’” (Fornmanna Sögur, vii.).
He goes on to say that the Germans coming there bring wine and teach men
to be drunkards.
“King Ólaf had proclaimed the Christian law in Vikin, in the same manner
as in the northern part of the country; and it progressed rapidly, for
the people of Vikin were much better acquainted with Christian customs
than the men in the north, for both in winter and summer there were many
Danish and Saxon traders. The men of Vikin also went much on trading
journeys to England and Saxland, or Flæmingjaland (Flamland, Flandres)
or Denmark; but some went on Viking expeditions, and stayed during
winter in Christian lands” (St. Olaf, c. 62).
There were regular places where fairs were held for the barter of wares
without fear of molestation, at which the same peace reigned as at the
Thing or temple, their inviolability apparently being acknowledged by
all. Booths were built in these places, to which native and foreign
merchants came, and goods—furs, skins, costly cloths, garments, grain,
slaves, &c., &c.—were sold or exchanged.
“Melkorka’s son Olaf sailed to Ireland, and, as he was about to land,
his headman, Örn, said: ‘I do not think we shall meet with a good
reception here, for this is far off from harbours and those
trading-places where foreigners have peace’” (Laxdæla, c. 21).
“Next summer Thránd went with trading men south to Denmark, and reached
Haleyri in the summer. There were very many people gathered, and it is
said that thither come more people than to any other place in Nordrlönd
(the northern lands) while the fair lasts. At that time King Harald
Gormsson, called Blátönn (blue tooth), ruled Denmark. King Harald was at
Haleyri in the summer, and many men with him. Two of the king’s hirdmen
who were there with him are mentioned; one was called Sigurd, the other
Hárek. These brothers always went round the town, and wanted to buy the
best and largest gold ring they could get. They entered a booth which
was very finely arranged; a man sitting there received them well, and
asked what they wished to buy. They said they wanted to buy a large and
good gold ring. He answered there was a good choice of them. They asked
for his name, and he called himself Hólmgeir Audgi (the wealthy). He set
forth his costly things, and showed them a heavy gold ring which was
very costly, and valued at so high a price that they did not know
whether they could get so much silver at once as he wanted, and asked
him to delay it till next morning, to which he assented.
“The king and others perceived that silver had been stolen from them, so
the king issued a proclamation that no ships were to sail as long as
matters stood thus. This seemed to many a great disadvantage, as it was,
to stay there longer than the fair lasted. Then the Norwegians had a
meeting among themselves to take counsel. Thránd was at the meeting, and
said: ‘The men here are very helpless.’ They asked: ‘Dost thou know a
plan?’ ‘Certainly I do,’ he said. ‘Then give us thy advice,’ they said.
‘I will not do that gratuitously.’ They asked what he demanded, and he
answered: ‘Every one of you shall give me one eyrir of silver.’ They
said that was a great deal, but it was agreed that every man there
should give him half an eyrir at once, and the other half if he was
successful. The next day the king had a Thing, and said that the men
should never go thence until this theft was discovered. Then a young man
with long red hair, freckly and rather ugly of face, began to speak, and
said: ‘The people here are rather helpless.’ The advice-givers of the
king asked what advice he had to give. He answered: ‘It is my advice
that every man here present give as much silver as the king demands, and
when that is put into one place, then pay the loss of him who has
suffered, and let the king have the rest as a gift of honour. I know
that he will use well what he gets; let not people stay here
weatherbound, such a multitude as here is assembled, to such a great
disadvantage.’ The assembled quickly accepted this, and said they would
willingly give silver to honour the king rather than stay there to their
disadvantage. This plan was adopted, and the silver collected”
(Færeyinga Saga, c. 3).
The trading ships, with very few exceptions, were free from the attacks
of the Vikings, as plundering a merchant vessel at sea seems to have
been considered unmanly. They were unlike the war vessels which we have
described, and the general name given to these Kaup-skip (trading ships)
shows that the distinction was easily recognised. They were neither
ornamented with dragons nor with shields, and the war pennant was
missing.
We find them mentioned under their different names—viz., Knörr, Kugg,
Byrding (ship of burden), Vistabyrding (provision ships), and Haf-skip
(deep-sea ship); there were also smaller or less important ones, among
them even ferry-boats. Byrdings (ships of burden), the real
cargo-carrying vessels, are frequently mentioned.
“One day when Ásmund was rowing through a Sound, a byrding sailed
towards them; it was easily recognised, for it was painted on the bows
with white and red; the sail was striped” (St. Olaf, 132).
Trade was considered a high calling. Even the sons of kings did not
despise it; Harald Fairhair’s son Björn was a great Farman (seafarer)
and Kaupman (trader, merchant).
“King Harald’s son, Björn, ruled over Vestfold, and resided chiefly in
Túnsberg, but seldom engaged in warfare. To Túnsberg came many traders,
both from around Vikin and from the country to the north, from the south
from Denmark and Saxland. King Björn also had trading-ships sailing to
various countries, and thus procured himself precious things, and other
goods which he needed. His brothers called him trading-man, or
faring-man. Björn was wise and quiet, and was thought likewise to be a
good chief” (Fornmanna Sögur, vol. i.).
Even kings sometimes entered into partnership with traders.
Ingimund, who had fought on the side of Harald Fairhair, but who had
settled in Iceland, came to Norway.
“Gudleik Gerski (of Gardariki) was a native of Agdir; he was a great and
rich trader and seafarer, who went on trading journeys to various
countries; he often went to Gardariki, and therefore was called Gudleik
Gerski. One spring he prepared his ship, as he wanted to go to Gardariki
in the summer. King Olaf sent him word that he wished to see him. When
Gudleik came, the king said he wished to enter into partnership with
him, and asked him to buy for him costly things that were rare in
Norway. Gudleik promised to do as he wished.... In the summer Gudleik
went to Hólmgard, and there bought excellent _pell_ (costly cloth),
which he intended for clothes of rank (tignarklœdi) for the king, and
costly skins, and an exceedingly fine table-service (bord-búnad)” (St.
Olaf, 64).[168]
“Ingimund then said: ‘Here I will show you, my lord, two bear-cubs,
which I captured in Iceland, and I wish that thou wouldst accept them
from me.’ The king thanked him, and promised that he would grant him
permission to take timber. During the winter they exchanged many
presents, and in the spring his ship was loaded with the cargo which he
chose, and the best timber that could be got. The king then said: ‘I
see, Ingimund, that hereafter thou wilt not any more come to Norway.
Thou wilt need more timber than one ship can carry; here some ships are
lying; choose which of them thou likest.’ ‘Choose for me, lord, that one
which will bring most luck.’ Ingimund replied. ‘I will, as I know best,’
said the king. ‘Here is one called _Stigandi_,[169] which bites the wind
better than any ship (sails better), and is more prosperous, too, and
that I will select for thee; it is not large, but fine.’ Ingimund
thanked him for the gift, and departed for Iceland, where he soon
arrived, and was received with joy by all.” (Vatnsdæla Saga, c.
16).[170]
“Eyvind (an Icelander) became a trader, and went to Norway, and thence
to other countries, and stopped in Mikligard (Constantinople), where he
obtained great honours from the Greek king, and remained some time”
(Hrafnkel’s Saga).
“This summer a ship came from Norway to the Faroes; the steersman was
called Rafn; his kin was in Vik, and he owned a house in Túnsberg. He
constantly sailed to Hólmgard, and was called Hólmgardsfari. The ship
came to Thórshöfn; when the traders were ready to go it is said that
Thránd of Gata came there one morning in a skúta and spoke to Rafn
privately, saying he had two young thralls to sell him. Rafn said he
would not buy them before he saw them. Thránd led forward the two boys
with the hair shaved off, in white garments; they were fine looking, but
swollen in the face from grief. When he saw the boys Rafn asked: ‘Are
not these the sons of Brestir and Beinir, whom you killed a short while
ago?’ ‘Certainly, I think so,’ said Thránd. ‘They will not come into my
hands,’ said Rafn, ‘for property.’ ‘Then let us both yield,’ said
Thránd; ‘take here two marks of silver which I will give thee if thou
takest them away with thee, so that they henceforth will never come to
the Færoes.’ He poured the silver into the lap of the steersman, counted
it, and showed it to him. Rafn liked the silver well, and it was agreed
that he should receive the boys. He sailed when he got a fair wind, and
landed where he wished in Norway east at Túnsberg; he stayed there
during the winter, and the boys with him, and they were well treated”
(Færeyinga Saga, c. 8).
In hard years the exportation of grain was forbidden.
“At Ömd, in Thrándarnes, lived a chief named Ásbjörn. He had three
feasts every winter, as was the custom of his father. Then the crops
began to fail and bad years came, and his mother wanted him to omit some
or all of the feasts; but he would not, and bought corn or had it given
to him as a gift. One summer he could get no more corn. It was said from
the south of the country that King Ólaf forbade to carry corn, malt and
meal from the south northwards. Then Ásbjörn went on his ship with
twenty men, and sailed southward till they came to Ögvaldsnes. Ásbjörn
asked the king’s steward, who lived there, if he would sell corn. He
told them that the king had forbidden the selling of corn from the south
to the north. Then Ásbjörn got corn from the thralls of the chief Erling
Skjálgsson, who was the brother of Ásbjörn’s mother. The king’s steward
went with sixty men out on Ásbjörn’s ship, and took the corn and his
sail besides, and gave him another bad sail. Ásbjörn slew the steward
some time after, when Ólaf was at a feast in the steward’s house” (St.
Olaf’s Saga, c. 123).
Weights and balances were known to the Norse from very early times, as
the finds prove; and their standard of measurement was the ell.
[Illustration:
Fig. 998.—⅓ real size.
Spiral rings of gold, used as money; found at the bottom of the
Vammelo, Södermanland. Weight, about 1⅒ lbs.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 999.—Real size.
Spiral rings; weight about 2½ oz. Norway.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1000.—Spiral ring found with three other smaller spiral rings,
and two fragments; weight, nearly 3 oz.—Norway.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1001.—Silver spiral ring; weight, nearly 6 oz.—Norway.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1002.—Spiral ring, found with fourteen bracteates of gold, of
four different patterns, &c. Weight, 3½ oz.—Norway.
]
The earliest medium of value used as coin was the Baug (ring), which is
mentioned in Rigsmál, and in the earlier laws. We find that the
reckonings were by marks and aurar. One mark was 8 aurar (1 oz.); one
eyrir was divided into eight ortugar, and one ortug into ten or sixty
penningar; this latter is sometimes mentioned as being of gold; it was
customary to weigh the medium of exchange.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1003.—Iron weight, real size, inlaid with bronze, weighing 4¾
oz.—Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1004.—Iron weight, real size, inlaid with bronze, weighing
slightly over ½ oz.—Rosenbys, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1005.—Bronze weight, size, found in the real black earth, Björkö.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1006.—One of ten weights found with balance. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1007.—Bronze scales, ⅓ real size—Vaxala, Upland. Later iron age.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1008.—The tongue of the balance.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1009.
Bronze balance, with remains of bronze chain attached to it, found in
a round mound, with a pincette of bronze, a bronze ornament for a
drinking-horn, four or five clay urns, &c. ½ real size.—Norway.
Earlier iron age.
]
A man named Karl of Mœri was sent by King Olaf the saint to the Faroes
to collect taxes due to him. Leif, son of Össur, took the tax (Silver)
which Thránd had collected, “and poured it out on his shield” to Karl.
They looked at the silver. Leif said:
[Illustration:
Fig. 1010.—Spiral silver ring, used probably as money, ⅔ real size,
found with a little cup, 1,923 Arabian coins, &c.—Vamblingö,
Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1011.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1012.
]
Box, with top open, 3/7 real size, in which there was a scale, ten
beads, and two ornaments of silver.—Petes, Götland.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1013.—Hook of iron. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1014.—Weight of iron. ⅓ real size.
]
With these were found two moulds of bronze, five unfinished fibulæ,
ornament for a drinking cup, part of a bridle, a chain all in
bronze, an iron key, the handle of which is of bronze, a
blacksmith’s pince (nipper), and another weight of iron,
&c.—Smiss, Götland.
“‘We need not look long at this silver; here is every penning better
than the other, and we want to have this silver; get thou, Thránd, a man
to look on while it is weighed.’ Thránd answered that he thought it best
that Leif should look at it on his behalf. Leif and the others then went
out, and a short way from the booth they sat down and weighed the
silver. Karl took the helmet from his head, and poured the silver which
was weighed into it” (Færeyinga Saga, c. 46).[171]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1015. Fig. 1016.
Arabic coin called Kufic, coined in 903 in Samarcand.—Götland. Real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1017. Fig. 1018.
Kufic coin of silver, date 742–743. Real size. Found in the cemetery
of Fredrikshald, Sweden, where another Kufic coin and two silver
bracelets had previously been found.
]
As in the Greek, Roman, and earlier Byzantine periods, so in the Viking
age, the island of Gotland stands foremost as the commercial centre of
the North, as is proved by the number of coins discovered, showing that
she kept the supremacy of trade for some ten or twelve centuries. The
numerous English coins found there and in Sweden, show that the Swedes,
and the people inhabiting the islands of the Baltic, were a seafaring
people, and were constantly engaged in trading and warlike expeditions
to England; in a word, they must have formed a great part of the host
that made warfare in Western Europe. The runic stones which have been
raised to the memory of those who have died in foreign lands are found
almost if not entirely in Sweden.
Norway has produced fewer coins than the other Scandinavian countries,
but this may be owing to their having been melted, as jewels of silver
are far more common there than elsewhere.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1019.—Silver cup.—Götland. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1020.—Silver vase.—Götland. ⅔ real size.
]
After the Roman and Byzantine era the Arabic period begins. Trade still
followed the ancient channel through the present Russia. Thousands of
Arabic coins of silver, besides probably, silver ornaments, to which the
name of Kufic[172] has been given, struck in the countries ruled by the
Arabians, found their way north from Bokhara, Samarcand, Bagdad, Kufa,
&c., &c., the earliest dating from 698, the latest 1010 after the
Christian era. Coins of gold are exceedingly rare; the greater number of
these belong to the ninth and the first half of the tenth century, that
is to say, between 880 and 955. From that time a great number of silver
ornaments appear in the North.
Norway has not as yet proved rich in Arabic coins. Of Kufic only about
seventy have been found, ranging in time from the year 742 to 952. These
coins are the more interesting in that not only the names of the rulers,
but of the cities, which then existed, where they were coined, are
given; many are of the Samanid dynasty. More than twenty thousand have
been found in Sweden and Götland; some of these, perhaps, came from
Spain. They were probably brought by the ships which made voyages to the
Mediterranean.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1021.—Ornaments round pedestal.—Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1022.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1023.
]
Ornaments fastened to the bottom of a vase, representing two
four-footed animals, one of which is eating the fruit growing upon
a tree.—Götland. ⅔ real size.
The two vases on p. 219 were found with Arabic coins and seven other
silver vessels, and are probably of Arabic origin.
Frankish coins (800 to 850) have been found in Sweden of the time of
Pepin, Charlemagne, and Louis le Debonnaire. In Norway of Charlemagne,
Louis le Debonnaire, Pepin, son of Louis le Debonnaire, of Lothair,
Louis’ son.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1024. Fig. 1025.
Frankish coin. Real size. Struck at Poictiers for Pepin, King of
Aquitaine, either Pepin I. (817–838), or Pepin II. (845–864). Found
with eight other Frankish coins. At the same place were found seven
other Frankish coins, some Arabic coins, fragments of silver
objects, &c.—Vestergötland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1026. Fig. 1027.
Frankish coin—ninth century—of silver. Real size. Louis (Ludovic) le
Debonnaire. Found in the upper part of a round tumulus, with burned
bones, a pair of oval fibulæ of bronze, a bronze key, a silver pin,
beads, &c., and other silver coins, four of which were of Louis le
Debonnaire type, one of Charlemagne, the other of Coenwulf, of
Mercia (796–818). The coins are pierced, and seemed to have been
surrounded, in part, at least, with a bronze ring, and must have
been worn as hanging ornaments.—Norway.
]
More than twenty thousand English coins[173] have been found in Sweden
and the island of Götland, fifteen thousand belonging to Ethelred’s time
(998–1016); this number is not surpassed in Britain itself, and the
harvest still continues in the North. A number came no doubt through the
channel of trade, and others probably from the Danegeld, Ethelred having
thus paid more than 167,000 lbs. of silver; part of this war-booty fell
to the lot of the Swedes and Danes.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1028. Fig. 1029.
Old English silver coin, eleventh century, beginning of King Knut’s
reign. Real size. Found under a large stone, by a landslip, with
about 1600 silver coins, mostly English, many German, some Swedish,
Danish, Bohemian, and Kufic.—Norway.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1030.
Silver coin of Knut the Great, used as a hanging ornament. Real
size.—Blekinge, Sweden.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1031. Fig. 1032.
Silver coin of Ethelred. Real size. Found near Stockholm, with 737
Arabic, German, and old English coins, and one coin of the Swedish
king, Olaf Skautkonung, some fragments of silver bracelets,
&c.—Upland, Sweden.
]
Coins of the ninth and the earlier part of the tenth century, are
extremely rare, though England was much ravaged by the northern
countries. I think no coins have been found thus far in Sweden before
Alfred’s date, and only three date before 950, but new discoveries may
in time bring others to light. In Denmark only a few hundred English
coins have been found; of the time of Ethelred and his successors about
three thousand in Norway.
The earliest English and Frankish coins, strange as it may appear, have
only been found in Sweden and Norway, but even these do not amount to
more than fifty or sixty; none have been discovered in Denmark, and
previously to the years 780 to 800, no specimen of Merovingian or
English coins have been found in the North.
The number of German is very great, and more than fifty thousand have
been found in Sweden and the island of Götland; they date chiefly from
the middle of the tenth to the middle of the eleventh century, and are
sometimes found to the number of one or two thousand together.[174]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1033. Fig. 1034.
German silver coin of Henry of Bavaria, end of tenth century.—Gotland.
Real size.
]
The intercourse with the Byzantine empire which had taken place in the
earlier centuries continued for a long time, and a great number of
Northmen entered the service of the Byzantine or Greek emperors, as seen
in the Sagas.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1035. Fig. 1036.
Byzantine coins (948–949). Real size. Struck by the emperors
Constantine X. and Romanus III. Found with a necklace, 15 bracelets,
2 buckles, 2 spiral bracelets, 3 perfect and 360 imperfect Arabic
coins, all of silver, and all of which were under an iron
dish.—Björko, Upland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1037.—Border enlarged.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1038.—Bog find.—Fibula of gold inlaid, ⅔ real size, found in a
bog, with coins.—Norway.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1039.—Silver wire bracelet, real size, found with four rings and
seventeen beads, nine of which are of different pattern, three
Arabic coins, three rings of silver, one of gold of twisted wires,
&c., &c., at Hejsland, Halfhem parish, Götland.
]
A bog find in Norway proved very rich in gold objects, Arabic,
Byzantine, Frankish, and there were also found English coins and other
objects.[175]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1040.—Gold fibula, real size, inlaid with coloured glass, in a
copper box in the ground, with over 4,000 coins, German, English,
&c., two Swedish coins, Anund Jakob (son of Olaf Skautkonung), five
necklaces, nine bracelets, two finger rings, &c., &c.—Blekinge,
Sweden.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1041.—Ring, real size, with charms representing a sword, a spear
head, &c., and some Arabic coins.—Öland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1042.—Box of bronze found in a mound, Nordrup, Zealand, with a
silver fibula, glass, &c.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1043.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1044.
Bottom of vessel.
]
Silver vessel, with inside, bottom, and border gilt, found with
three bracelets, thirty-one fragments of ingots, rings, 500 German
and English coins, &c.—Lilla Valla, Götland.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1045.—Bronze box, ¼ real size, containing fragments of ornaments,
coins, two coins of Olaf Skotkonung and several hundreds English and
German coins, &c.—Findarfve, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1046.—Bracelet of silver, ½ real size, with small rings, four of
which have Arabian coins wrapped round them.—Kullaberg, Scania.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1047.—Fibula of silver, ⅔ real size, figures in relief,
embellished with Niello, found with Arabic coins.—Herestad, Scania.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1048.—Chain of bronze, ⅒ real size, with comb attached.—Lake
Mälar.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1049.—The comb. ⅔ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1050.—Real size of chain.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1051.—Spiral silver bracelet, ⅔ original size, found with three
similar bracelets, Arabian coins, &c.—Sandby, Öland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1052.—Bracelet of silver, ¾ real size, found with coins, &c.,
near Eskilstuna, Södermanland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1053.—Massive silver bracelet, ¾ real size, found under an old
stable, with two other bracelets, Arabic, German, and old English
coins, &c.—Undrom, Angermanland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1054.—Bracelet of silver, ¾ real size.—Eskilstuna, Södermanland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1055.—Neck-ring of twisted silver wire, found with the massive
silver bracelet.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1056.—Bracelet of solid silver, real size, found with four other
silver bracelets
and forty-six Arabic coins of silver, &c.—Thalings, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1057.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1058.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1059.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1060.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1061.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1062.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1063.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1064.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1065.
]
Beads of silver found with bracelet, p. 224.—Hemse, Götland.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1066.—Bead of green glass, real size.—Hemse.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1067.—Bead of glass mosaic, real size.—Hemse.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1068.—Fibula of bronze inlaid with silver and gilt. Found in a
mound in Hemse, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1069.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1070.
Pins found in a cairn.—Hemse, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1071.—Key with chain.—Hemse,
Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1072.—Iron axe, with a round hole in the blade.—Hemse. Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1073.—Bronze buckle or fibula, found in a small cairn at Hemse,
Götland.
]
Hemse find, Götland. At this place are found several small coins
with unburnt bodies. Among the objects found besides those
represented above, were several basins of bronze, number of bronze
fibulæ, a great number of amber, crystal, and glass beads, several
keys, bone combs, several clay urns, buckle of bronze, a fragment
of a stone with runic character, several charms, iron axes,
knives, pins, &c. The only coins found were one Arabic coin, and
two German coins of the 10th and 11th centuries.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1074.—Semi-circular ornament of silver with small rings at both
ends.—Fölhagen, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1075.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1076.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1077.
]
Three of twelve snake-shaped necklace ornaments, real
size.—Fölhagen, Götland.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1078.—Bracteate.—Fölhagen, Götland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1079.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1080.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1081.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1082.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1083.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1084.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1085.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1086.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1087.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1088.
]
Silver beads, real size, together with coins, &c., in a box in the
earth, by a working man while digging a ditch, at Fölhagen,
Götland, near the Monastery de Roma, from a lot of 49 beads of
thirteen different patterns.
Fölhagen ground find, Götland. The objects were in a copper box,
which however could not be taken whole, and contained, besides
some of the objects represented above, an ingot of chemically pure
gold, 8 bracelets of silver, 835 Kufic coins (971), 400 German
coins, the latest from Otto III. before 1002; 4 English coins of
Æthelred, and many other jewels.
Insurance companies were known from early times.
“Damages are to be paid if a disease comes among a man’s cattle so that
one-fourth or more of his cattle dies; then the men of the Hrepp shall
pay the loss. The man shall call five of his neighbours to him during
the next half month after the disease has ceased, in order to value his
loss. He shall tell them his loss and show them the flesh and the skin
of the dead cattle. Thereupon he shall take an oath before them that his
loss is as great as they estimated it, or more. Then at a meeting he
shall tell how great they valued his loss to be and the bœndr shall pay
him one-half of the loss” (Gragas, i. 458.)
“There are also three rooms in the house of every man which are to be
paid for if they are burnt. The first is stofa (sitting-room), second is
hall (eldhus), the third is the pantry where women prepare food. If one
owns both eldhus and skali he shall at a meeting in the spring say
whether he wants people rather to be answerable for the eldhus or the
skali” (Gragas, i. 459).
“Only the value of the clothes or things which a man owned and used
every day shall be paid. If food is burned it shall be paid. The value
of costly things or wares shall not be paid. A man’s losses shall not be
made good to him more than three times” (i. 460).
We have in the following passage an early reference to the great fair of
Novgorod:—
“One summer Harald (Fairhair) called to him his dearest favourite, Hauk
hábrök (= high-breech), and said: ‘Now I am free from all warfare and
hostility in the land, and will lead a life of ease and pleasure. I will
send you into Eastern lands this summer to buy for me some things that
are costly and rare here.’ Hauk said he should be obeyed in this as in
other things, and the king allowed his men to go to various countries.
Hauk departed with one ship and a good body of followers, and arrived
east to Hólmgard (= Novgorod) in the autumn as the fair began, and went
into winter quarters. Thither had come many people from various lands,
among them were the champions of King Eirek from Uppsalir, Björn
blueside and Salgard serk (= shirt), overbearing and wronging everybody.
One day Hauk walked through the town with his men to buy some costly
things for his lord Harald, when he came to where a man of Gardariki was
sitting; he saw a costly cloak all over adorned with gold. This he
bought, left and went for the money. Before this, the same day, Björn
had wanted to buy this cloak for the King of the Swedes, and its value
was given. After Hauk had gone, the servant of Björn came and told the
trader that Björn must, of course, get the cloak, but he said the matter
was settled. The servant told Björn. Then Hauk came with the money for
the cloak, paid all, and took it away” (Flateyjarbok, i. 577).
-----
Footnote 167:
Cf. also Ólaf Tryggvason, Fornmanna Sögur, i.
Footnote 168:
Cf. St. Olaf, c. 143.
Footnote 169:
Stigandi = the stepping one.
Footnote 170:
Cf. Hróa Thátt; Flateyjarbók, ii.; Landnamabók, iii.
Footnote 171:
Cf. Gretti’s Saga, c. 98.
Footnote 172:
Kufa, as we know, was situated on one of the branches of the
Euphrates, south of Bagdad, and was for a while the seat of the
Caliphs.
Footnote 173:
Among the English coins found in Sweden, and now in the royal
collection in Stockholm, are of—
Edward I.
Ethelstan.
Sihtric, of Northumberland.
Coin with the name of St. Peter.
Edgar.
Edward II.
Ethelred II.
Knut.
Harold I.
Harthacnut.
Edward Confessor.
Harold II.
King Sihtric, of Dublin, 989–1020.
English coins found in Norway of—
Coenwulf, of Mercia (796–819).
Ceolwulf, his son (819–821).
Northumbrian (Styca).
Eawred (808–840).
Archbishop Wulfred, of Canterbury (803–829).
Ethelred.
Canute the Great.
Edgar.
Edward the Martyr.
From the beginning of the eleventh century.
King Sigtrygg Silkiskegg.
Footnote 174:
Among the great finds of coins are those of Findarfoe, in Götland,
which had more than 3,000 German coins, besides English and others.
Another in Johanneshus, in Blekinge, Sweden, which, besides a mass of
ornaments and jewels of silver, contained over 3,400 German coins of
the tenth and eleventh century. The German coins had been struck for
German emperors, kings, princes, archbishops, bishops, &c., &c., and
belong to Bohemia, Bavaria, Swabia, Lorraine, Franconia, the modern
Saxony, Frisia, the Netherlands, &c. There are also coins of cities,
those of Cologne being the most numerous, and even coins for Northern
Italy. Most of these coins are derived from places along the rivers of
Germany, especially the Rhine. The most common are those of Otto III.
and his grandmother Adelheid, who reigned during the minority of her
grandson (991–995).
Footnote 175:
Among the coins were nine Kufic, eight of which were of gold, and one
of silver, all of Abbasides Caliphs, from 760 to 840; four Byzantine
coins of gold, of Valens, Mauricius, Constantine, Copronymus, and
Michael III.; a gold coin of Louis le Debonnaire; two coins of
silver-gilt of his sons Lothair and Pepin, a silver-gilt coin of
Archbishop Wulfred, of Canterbury, 803–829. With these was a large
treasure of gold and jewels, among which were two neck-rings, three
bracelets, rings, charms, and an object, probably a _reliquary_,
having a Christian inscription in Greek, numerous charms and
ornaments, one of which was ornamented with an antique gem, and others
with garnet beads, &c., &c., all of gold; some objects were
silver-gilt; gold chains, &c., &c.