Bjarmaland

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Detail of the Carta Marina ( 1539 ) by Olaus Magnus , on which a Bjarmia is depicted

Bjarmaland (also Bjarmland or Bjarmia ; in the sense of land of the Bjarmen ) was an area mentioned in Nordic sagas up to the Viking Age and beyond in the geographical works published in the 16th century.

Assumed location of the area

The term could be assigned to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina . These areas are now part of Russia's Arkhangelsk Oblast . In any case, the trade of the Bjarmen reached south-east to the Volga Bulgarians , where they also met Scandinavians, who, however, came from the Baltic Sea.

Bjarmaland was probably in the area of ​​today's Arkhangelsk, which succeeded a previous Bjarmic settlement. The name Bjarmaland appears for the first time in the journey of Otthar , which may have been undertaken in 890. According to Otthar, it was the first trip by Norwegians there, although this information does not seem certain. It is more likely that Otthar concocted this story with his Anglo-Saxon audience in mind and was reluctant to go into the details of the Bjarmisch-Norwegian trade relations.

The Bjarmen's name can also be found in the oldest chronicle of the Rus , the Nestor Chronicle . Furthermore, the names of other Finno-Ugric tribes are listed in these, such as the Wepsen , Mari , Mordwinen and the Tschuden (Proto-Estonians).

The area name was later used by Adam von Bremen , and also by the Icelandic Snorri Sturluson , in whose Bósa saga ok Herrauðs ; they reported on the rivers that flow from Bjarmaland to Gandvik . It is unclear whether they meant the same Bjarmaland that is mentioned in Otthar's trip . The name of the Bjarmic deity Jomali is similar to the Finnish Jumala , which means "God" or has a corresponding meaning in other Finnish dialects or languages. From this it was also concluded that the Bjarmen were of Finnish origin. However, the description of the deity points to a Siberian deity; especially their crown, which is described as decorated with 12 gold stars, would be characteristic of the headgear of Siberian shamans.

Olaus Magnus located Bjarmaland in the area of ​​the Kola Peninsula , while Johannes Scheffer claimed that it should be equated with the Lappmark (Finnmark). On the reproductions of the Skálholt map from the late 16th century by Sigurd Stefánsson, Biarmaland is located above Norway.

Descriptions in the sagas

One possible course of
Otthar's journey

After writing the report that the Norwegian Otthar from Halogaland delivered to King Alfred the Great , he sailed for several days along the northern coast of Norway, and then southwards, whereupon he reached a large river, which is probably the Northern Dwina acted. At the mouth of which the Beormas settled, who, unlike the nomadic Sami , were settled; and their land was rich and well-populated. Their language was unknown to the Otthar, but he said it resembled that of the Sami. The Bjarmen told him about their country and about other countries that bordered the former.

Later there are reports of further expeditions or trips to Bjarmaland which were undertaken from Norway. In 920 Erik Blutaxt went on a trip, as did Harald II and Haakon Magnusson in 1090.

The best known expedition was that of the Tore Hund , who came to Bjarmaland together with some friends (or predators) in 1026. They started trading with the locals and bought large quantities of furs; whereupon they pretended to leave. Later they secretly landed on the coast and ransacked the Bjarmen burial site. There they had erected an idol of their god Jomali . On the knees of this god statue was a bowl with silver in it. The statue also had a valuable chain around its neck. Tore and his men attacked and managed to escape the Bjarmen - chasing them - and their prey.

Historical classification

The Northern Country ( Viktor Wasnezow , 1899).

Historians believe that the Bjarmen's wealth was due to their profitable trade along the Dvina, the Kama and the Volga to the Bulgarians and other settlements in the south. Along this route, the Bjarmen traded silver coins and other goods for furs and walrus legs. Further to the north, the Bjarmen traded the Sami, which they possibly had to pay tribute to.

It seems that the Scandinavians took advantage of the Dvina trade - in addition to the trade routes across the Volga and Dnieper . In 1217 two Norwegian traders came to Bjarmaland to buy furs; one of them drove south to Russia and from there to the Holy Land , where he intended to take part in a crusade. The second trader who stayed behind was killed by the Bjarmen. This moved Norwegian captains to retaliate against a war expedition to Bjarmaland, which they sacked in 1222.

The 13th century seems to have ushered in the decline of Bjarmaland, because Novgorod became tributary. While many Slavs fled northwards from the Mongol invasion towards Belozersk and Bjarmaland, the Bjarmen who had been driven out of their country sought refuge in Norway. There they were assigned land in Malangen by Håkon IV in 1240 . More significant for their decline was probably that with the onset of the Crusades, the trade routes shifted more to the west or shifted considerably to the south. When the Novgorodians founded Veliky Ustyug in the beginning of the 13th century , the Bjarmen became a major trade competitor. More and more pomors came to the region in the 14th and 15th centuries, which led to the final subjugation and assimilation of the Bjarmen by the Slavs.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Steinsland & Meulengracht 1998, p. 162.
  2. Ohthere's voyage to Bjarmaland . Original text in English translation
  3. Richard Hennig : Terrae incognitae. A compilation and critical evaluation of the most important pre-Columbian voyages of discovery on the basis of the original reports on them. 4 vols., 2nd edition, Brill, Leiden 1944–1956
  4. ^ Angela Marcantonio: The Uralic Language Family: Facts, Myths and Statistics (=  Publications of the Philological Society . Volume 35 ). Wiley, 2002, ISBN 0-631-23170-6 , pp. 21–23 (English, 360 p., Limited preview in Google Book Search).

literature

  • Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen, P. (1998): Människor och makter i vikingarnas värld . ISBN 91-7324-591-7
  • Тиандер К.Ф. Поездки скандинавов в Белое море. [ Voyages of the Norsemen to the White Sea ]. Saint Petersburg, 1906.