Early Finnish wars
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
or by Finns to neighboring countries prior to the Swedish conquest has survived in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic sagas
Sagàs
Sagàs is a small town and municipality located in Catalonia, in the comarca of Berguedà. It is located in the geographical area of the pre-Pyrenees.-Population:...
, German, Norwegian, Danish and Russian chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s and Swedish legends. Most of the early Finnish wars remain unhistorical and cannot be verified from reliable sources.
Saga sources
However legendary, Ynglingasaga tells about the first known military expedition to Finland. Based on saga's internal chronologies, the war presumably took place at the end of the 4th century, 6 generations before the semi-historical Swedish king OhthereOhthere
Ohthere, Ohtere , Óttarr, Óttarr vendilkráka or Ottar Vendelkråka was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived during the 6th century and belonged to the house of Scylfings...
(Vendelkråka): However, it is disputed whether the Old Norse concept Finland refers always to the present country of Finland; alternatively it could have mean the land of the Sámi
SAMI
SAMI is a Microsoft accessibility initiative released in 1998. The structured markup language is designed to simplify creating captions for media playback on a PC, i.e. not for broadcast purposes....
.
It happened one summer that King AgneAgneAgne, English: Agni, Hogne or Agni Skjálfarbondi was a mythological king of Sweden, of the House of Yngling.Snorri Sturluson relates that he was the son of Dag the Wise, and he was mighty and famous. He was also skilled in many ways....
went with his army to Finland, and landed and marauded. The Finland people gathered a large army, and proceeded to the strife under a chief called Froste. There was a great battle, in which King Agne gained the victory, and Froste fell there with a great many of his people. King Agne proceeded with armed hand through Finland, subdued it, and made enormous booty.
Norna-Gests þáttr
Norna-Gests þáttr
Norna-Gests þáttr or the Story of Norna-Gest is a legendary saga about the Norse hero Norna-Gest.-Summary:Norna-Gest was the son of a Danish man named Thord of Thinghusbit, who once dwelt on the estate of Grøning in Denmark. When he was born, three Norns arrived and had foretold the child's...
saga tells that Kvens (probably referring to a group of Finns) were raiding in Sweden in the mid-8th century.
Sigurd RingSigurd RingSigurd Hring was a Swedish and Danish king mentioned in many old Scandinavian legends. According to Bósa saga ok Herrauds, there was once a saga on Sigurd Hring, but this saga is now lost...
(Sigurðr) was not there, since he had to defend his land, Sweden (Svíþjóð), since CuroniansCuroniansThe Curonians or Kurs were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic sea in what are now the western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic tribes. They gave their name to the region of Courland , and they spoke the Old...
(Kúrir) and Kvens (Kvænir) were raiding there.
In the late 9th century, king Eric Anundsson
Eric Anundsson
Eric Anundsson/Eymundsson was a Swedish king who ruled during the 9th century. The Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok identifies Eric with the legendary Swedish king Erik Weatherhat....
was told to have conquered Finland, with several other eastern countries.
My grandfather Thorgny could well remember the Upsala king Eirik Eymundson, and used to say of him that when he was in his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to different countries, and conquered for himself Finland, KareliaKareliaKarelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
, CourlandCourlandCourland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, and the eastern countries all around --
However, all other accounts of the king exclude Finland from his conquests.
German sources
Finland was probably the same as Terra FeminarumTerra Feminarum
Terra feminarum is a name for a land in Fennoscandia that appears in Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum by Adam of Bremen 1075 AD...
which was attacked by Sweden in 1050s, as described in Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
(Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) by Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
in 1075 CE. According to the source, the attack ended in the Swedish defeat, and led to the death of the king's son who was in charge of the campaign. Information on the conflict is however convoluted.
Medieval Swedish legends
The best-known Swedish war against Finland presumably took place in the 1150s known as the legendary First Swedish CrusadeFirst Swedish Crusade
First Swedish Crusade is a legendary military expedition presumably in the 1150s that has traditionally been seen as the conquest of Finland by Sweden, with pagan Finns converting to Christianity. According to the legend, the crusade was conducted by King Eric IX of Sweden...
. Whether it ever actually happened, is however not certain as the information is based on the late 13th century legends.
Sweden eventually took over Finland during the so-called Second Swedish Crusade
Second Swedish Crusade
The Second Swedish Crusade was a Swedish military expedition to areas in present-day Finland by Birger jarl in the 13th century. As a result of the crusade, Finland became permanently part of Sweden for the next 550 years.-Year of the crusade:...
around 1249. By the end of the century, records of independent Finnish military activities ceased to surface.
Conflicts with Norwegians
Norwegian Ohthere tells in the Old English Orosius from 890 that Norwegians and Qwenas (Kvens) were in conflict with each other from time to time:The Kvens (Qwenas) harry the Norwegians across the moor, sometimes the Norwegians them. And there are very many fresh water lakes beyond the moors; and the Kvens carry their ships overland into the moors, whence they harry the Norwegians, they have very small and very light ships.
Legendary Orkneyinga saga
Orkneyinga saga
The Orkneyinga saga is a historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200...
tells about Nor who travelled from Kvenland to Norway and took over the entire country. Based on saga's internal chronologies, the war would have taken place on the 6th or 7th century. Another version of the saga, Hversu Noregr byggdist
Hversu Noregr byggdist
Hversu Noregr byggðist is an account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages, which survives only in the Flatey Book. It traces the descendants of the primeval Finnish ruler Fornjót down to Nór, who is here the eponym and first great king of Norway, and then gives details of the...
, however omits the Kvenland part completely.
Saga of Olaf Haraldson
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
tells how the Saint Olaf
Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...
himself, the King of Norway, plundered in Finland around 1007 and almost got killed at the Battle at Herdaler
Battle at Herdaler
The Battle at Herdaler was a battle between the Norse Viking leader Olav Haraldsson and Finnish people at Herdaler in Finland around years 1007/8...
.
According to Icelandic chronicles, Kvens were raiding in northern Norway in 1271:
Then Karelians (Kereliar) and Kvens (Kvænir) pillaged widely in HålogalandHålogalandHålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the mediaeval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a petty kingdom extending between Namdalen in Nord-Trøndelag and Lyngen in Troms.-Etymology:...
(Hálogalandi).