Kylfings
Encyclopedia
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, roughly from the late ninth century to the early twelfth century. They could be found in areas of Lapland, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
that were frequented by Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n traders, raiders and mercenaries. Scholars differ on whether the Kylfings were ethnically Finnic
Finnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
or Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
. Also disputed is their geographic origin, with Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and the Eastern Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
all put forward as candidates. Whether the name Kylfing denotes a particular tribal, socio-political, or economic grouping is also a matter of much debate.
They are mentioned in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
runestone inscriptions, sagas (most notably in Egil's Saga), and poetry
Old Norse poetry
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...
(such as Thorbjorn Hornklofi's poem Haraldskvæði), as well as Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
records and Rus' law-codes, in which they (along with another Scandinavian group, the Varangians
Varangians
The Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were people from the Baltic region, most often associated with Vikings, who from the 9th to 11th centuries ventured eastwards and southwards along the rivers of Eastern Europe, through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.According...
) were afforded significant economic and social privileges. According to the sagas, the Kylfings opposed the consolidation of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
under Harald Fairhair
Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...
and participated in the pivotal late ninth century Battle of Hafrsfjord
Battle of Hafrsfjord
The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch.The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord...
. After Harald's victory in that battle, they are described in the sagas as having raided in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
and elsewhere in northern Norway and having fought against Harald's lieutenants such as Thorolf Kveldulfsson
Thorolf Kveldulfsson
Thorolf Kveldulfsson was the oldest son of Kveldulf Bjalfasson and the brother of the Norwegian/Icelandic goði and skald Skalla-Grimr. Thorolf is a hero of the early part of Egils saga. According to that work, he served as a retainer of Harald I of Norway and fought on the latter's own ship at the...
.
Etymology
The exact etymology of the word kylfing is disputed and many different theories have been put forward as to its ultimate origin. The general trend has been to trace kylfing to the Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
words kylfa and kolfr, but scholars disagree as to the meaning of these words as well. Cleasby notes that in Old Norse, kylfa can mean a club or cudgel
Club (weapon)
A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
. Thus the national Icelandic antiquarian Barði Guðmundsson translated Kylfing to mean "club-wielders". As Foote points out, it can also mean a smaller stick, such as a tally-stick or wooden token used by merchants, and, according to Jesch, it can also mean the "highest and narrowest part" of a ship's stem
Stem (ship)
The stem is the very most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself and curves up to the wale of the boat. The stem is more often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively...
. Holm discussed the term kylfa in connection with the word hjúkolfr which means "meeting" or "guild"; according to Holm, the second element kolfr could refer to a symbolic arrow
Fiery cross
The Fiery cross is the English language term for a piece of wood, such as a baton, that North Europeans, e.g. Scotsmen and Scandinavians, used to send to rally people for things for defence or rebellion ....
traditionally used as a device to summon people for a meeting.
These varied derivations have led to a number of interpretations. Holm offers two meanings: "archer" and "man armed with a cudgel
Club (weapon)
A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
". A number of historians have asserted that Kylfing referred to a member of a "club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
in the social or Anglo-American sense", a "brotherhood" or a member of a Norse félag
Félag
Félag was a joint financial venture between partners in Viking Age society.-Etymology:The word félag is constructed by the word fé and a verbal base denoting "lay", the meaning being "to lay property together."The Old Norse word félagi "companion, comrade" originally meaning "one who has félag...
. In a number of minor Icelandic manuscripts on mathematics and geography, Kylfingaland is identified as Garðaríki
Garðaríki
Garðaríki or Garðaveldi is the Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Kievan Rus'...
, i.e. Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
, but the sources are unclear as to whether Kylfingaland is named for the Kylfings or vice versa, or whether, indeed, there is any connection at all.
The Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
of Kylfing is Kolbjag, following the pattern of development *kolƀing (*kulƀing) > *kolƀęg > kolbjag. The Kolbiagi were a group of foreign merchant-venturers and mercenaries mentioned in a number of Old Russian sources. They are often mentioned together with the Varangians
Varangians
The Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were people from the Baltic region, most often associated with Vikings, who from the 9th to 11th centuries ventured eastwards and southwards along the rivers of Eastern Europe, through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.According...
, a term used in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
to describe Scandinavian traders and pirates. In Byzantine Greek, they were named koulpingoi and they served as a unit of the Byzantine army listed alongside the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
, which was of Scandinavian origin.
A very different derivation was put forward by the Russian scholar B. Briems. He hypothesised that Kylfingr was a direct Norse translation of the Votic
Votic language
Votic or Votian is the language spoken by the Votes of Ingria. It is closely related to Estonian and belongs to the Finnic subgroup of Uralic languages. Votic is spoken only in Krakolye and Luzhitsy, two villages in the Kingisepp district, and is close to extinction...
self-designation Vatjalaiset and Vatja (or Vadjalaiset and Vadja) used by the Votes
Votes
Votes are a people of Votia in Ingria, the part of modern day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Estonian border-town of Narva. Their own ethnic name is Vadjalain . The Finnic Votic language spoken by Votes is close to extinction. Votians were one of...
, a Finnic tribe residing in Ingria
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. A non-Norse origin was also proposed by Julius Brutzkus
Julius Brutzkus
Julius Davidovich Brutzkus or Judah Loeb Brutzkus was a Lithuanian Jewish historian, scholar, and politician.He was born in 1870 in Palanga, in the Russian Empire, which earlier had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His brother was the economist Boris Brutzkus. Julius studied in Moscow at...
, who argued that both Varangian and Kylfing derived from the Turkic languages
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
, particularly the Bulgar and Khazar language
Khazar language
Khazar was the language spoken by the Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia. It is also referred to as Khazarian, Khazaric, or Khazari. The language is extinct and written records are almost non-existent....
s. Brutzkus asserted that Varangian came from the Turkic root varmak ("to walk, travel") while Kylfing was a Norse pronunciation of the Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
kolbiagi, itself deriving from the Turkic phrase köl-beg ("sea-king"); under this interpretation the word Kylfing would be more or less synonymous with "Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
".
Identity
According to Egil's Saga, the Kylfings were trading and plundering in FinnmarkFinnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
around the year 900. Thorolf Kveldulfsson, King Harald's tax agent in northern Norway, engaged Saami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
scouts to monitor the Kylfings' movements and report back to him. Countering their raids, he is reported to have killed over a hundred Kylfing marauders.
Some scholars see them as Scandinavians while others consider them to have been a Finnic
Finnic peoples
The Finnic or Fennic peoples were historic ethnic groups who spoke various languages traditionally classified as Finno-Permic...
tribe, and assert a connection between the word Kylfing and the Finnish
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...
, Saami, and Karelian myths of Kaleva
Kalevi (mythology)
Kaleva or Kalevi or Kalev and his sons are very important beings in Estonian, Finnish and Karelian mythology.-History:The first written mentioning of Kalev appears in 1641 in the Leyen Spiegel by Heinrich Stahl....
. Elsewhere they are described as a mixture of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
and Finnish people who were employed as mercenaries and tax-agents by Scandinavian rulers; in this context Ravndal interpreted the kylfa element to refer to a "club" in the sense of organization. Arbman argues that the Kolbiagi were a separate fur-trading
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
guild. Postan et al., on the other hand, hypothesize that Kolbiag denoted a junior participant in a Varangian trade guild, rather than a separate group.
Finnic peoples
Holm (1992) considers Egil's saga to equate the Kylfings with the FinnicFinnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
ethnicities, i.e. Kvens and Karelians
Karelians
The Karelians are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern Finland and the formerly Finnish territory of Ladoga Karelia...
. In the 14th century, when the Swedish kings began to direct their attention northwards and encourage Swedish colonization in Norrbotten
Norrbotten
Norrbotten is a Swedish province in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.- Administration :...
, there were regulations that the Finnish Birkarls
Birkarls
Birkarls were a small, unofficially organized Finnish group that controlled taxing and commerce in central Lappmarken in Sweden during the 13th to 17th centuries.-Background:The most probable assumption is that Birkarls were originally...
and the Saami peoples were not to be interrupted in their traditional activities. In addition, there are many medieval sources that present Lapland as being dominated by Finns. A large part of the Karelians were under Novgorod which was included in what Icelandic sources called Kylfingaland, and thus the Kylfings could have been Baltic Finnish tribes under Novgorod.
East Slavs
The East Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking East Slavic languages. Formerly the main population of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, by the seventeenth century they evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian peoples.-Sources:...
and Byzantines consistently made a clear distinction between Varangians and Kylfings, and Byzantines distinguished between them in the same manner as they separated Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
from Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s. According to Holm such separations are indicative of clear ethnic differences between the two groups. Additionally, both East Slavic and Byzantine sources explicitly associate the Varangians with Scandinavia, which they called Varangia, and in Arabic, the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
was called Bahr Varank, i.e. the "Varangian Sea". There are no comparable connections when they mention the Kylfings. Another difference is the fact that the Byzantine sources connect the word varangoi with rhōs in order to make it clear that the rhōs-varangoi and the varangoi originate in Scandinavia just like the rhōs, but do not establish the same associations for the koulpingoi.
The Kylfings have also been identified with the Votic people
Votes
Votes are a people of Votia in Ingria, the part of modern day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Estonian border-town of Narva. Their own ethnic name is Vadjalain . The Finnic Votic language spoken by Votes is close to extinction. Votians were one of...
. Carl Christian Rafn
Carl Christian Rafn
Carl Christian Rafn was a Danish historian, translator and antiquarian. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse literature and related Northern European ancient history...
, Edgar V. Saks
Edgar V. Saks
Edgar Valter Saks was an Estonian statesman, amateur historian and author. He was Estonian Minister of Public Education in exile from May 8, 1971 until his death...
, B. Briem and Sigurður Nordal
Sigurður Nordal
Sigurður Nordal was an Icelandic scholar, writer and ambassador. He was influential in forming the theory of the Icelandic sagas as works of literature composed by individual authors....
have proposed Kylfings to have been the Norse name for the Votes. The reason is that the ethnonym
Ethnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
Vadja(laiset) can be associated with the word vadja (modern Estonian vai) which means "stake", "wedge" or "staff", which corresponds to Old Norse kolfr. Vadjalaiset would consequently be translated into Old East Norse as kolfingar, which in Old West Norse (Old Icelandic) would be umlaut
Germanic umlaut
In linguistics, umlaut is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vowel or semivowel. The term umlaut was originally coined and is used principally in connection with the study of the Germanic languages...
ed as kylfingar. Whereas some native names were Scandinavized, as Rostov
Rostov
Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...
into Ráðstofa, the Norse learned of the meaning of other names and translated them, which they did at Volkhov
Volkhov
Volkhov is an industrial town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated east of St. Petersburg, on the Volkhov River. Population: -History:...
, and in the case of some of the Dniepr rapids. The theory that the Kylfings were Votes has been opposed by Max Vasmer and Stender-Petersen, whereas Holm finds it likely. Holm considers it apparent that the Varangians and the Finnic tribes were able to cooperate well, and he points to the relative ease and stability with which Finland was later integrated as a part of the Swedish kingdom. Jorma Koivulehto, a Finnish linguist, disagrees with the Vote theory and maintains that the Votic name or any other Finnic ethnonym is not etymologically connected with the name Kylfingar.
Estonians have also been identified as Kylfings.
Scandinavians
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, tribe that infiltrated northern Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
during the late ninth century. Guðmundsson connects the Kylfings with the Germanic Heruli
Heruli
The Heruli were an East Germanic tribe who are famous for their naval exploits. Migrating from Northern Europe to the Black Sea in the third century They were part of the...
who were active throughout northern Europe and in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the fifth and sixth centuries. According to Guðmundsson, many of these Kylfings may ultimately have emigrated to 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...
during the ninth and tenth centuries. Other scholars have assigned a Danish origin to this tribe.
Some scholars have considered the Kylfings of Egil's Saga to be a "conquering Germanic people", or the Swedish king's tax collectors. Holm (1992) considers such suggestions to be anachronistic due to the fact that the Swedish kings lacked any interest in northern Fenno-Scandia during the ninth and tenth centuries, and not even the later law of Hälsingland mentions any Swedish settlement north of Bygdeå
Bygdeå
Bygdeå is a locality situated in Robertsfors Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 506 inhabitants in 2005.The town is situated some south of the municipal seat Robertsfors and several kilomeres inland from the Gulf of Botnia of the Baltic Sea...
in southern Västerbotten
Västerbotten
', English exonym: West Bothnia, is a province or landskap in the north of Sweden. It borders Ångermanland, Lapland, Norrbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is famous for the cheese with the same name as the province.- Administration :...
.
Pritsak identified the Kylfings as a "professional trading and mercenary organization" that organized expeditions northward, into the Saami lands, as distinct from other Varangian and viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
groups whose expeditions focussed on lands to the west and east of Scandinavia. This interpretation is supported by such historians as Stender-Petersen.
A number of runestones in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
contain the personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
Kylfingr, which may or may not be connected to the Kylfings as a group.
Other suggestions
A few historians have hypothesized that the Kylfings were a West Slavic people related to the Pomeranians. Under this interpretation, the Slavic term Kolbiag may share common origins with such place-names as Kołobrzeg (formerly Kolberg), a town on the PomeraniaPomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
n Baltic coast, and Kolpino
Kolpino
Kolpino is a municipal city in Kolpinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the Izhora River southeast of St. Petersburg proper. Population: 81,000 ; 8,076 ....
, a settlement near modern St. Petersburg.
Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
sources refer to Kylfings (Κουλπίγγοι, Koulpingoi; often attested in the genitive plural Κουλπίγγων, Koulpingon) as being among the foreigners serving as mercenaries in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, but appear to distinguish between them and the Varangians. For instance, an imperial chrysobull, an edict bearing a golden seal, issued in 1073 exempts certain monasteries from being forced to billet
Billet
A billet is a term for living quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, it referred to a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier....
soldiers of specific ethne: Varangians, Rus'
Rus' (people)
The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
, Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s, Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
and Koulpingoi. In previous edicts issued in 1060 and 1068 the Koulpingoi had not been separately delineated. Similar edicts were issued in 1082, 1086, and 1088. The edict issued by Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
1088, for instance, reads:
Russia and the eastern Baltic
The Kylfings were also active in the eastern Baltic and northern Russia. Kylfingaland may have been used to refer to KareliaKarelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
; on some runestones it has been interpreted as a synonym for Garðariki
Garðaríki
Garðaríki or Garðaveldi is the Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Kievan Rus'...
, the Old Norse name for Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The eleventh-century Ruskaya Pravda, the law code of the Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
, grants certain privileges to Kylfings (Колбяги or "Kolbiagi") in addition to Varangians ("Varyagi"). For instance, Varangians and Kylfings were entitled to press charges with an oath without relying on any witnesses. In addition, in order to swear innocence, they needed only two witnesses, whereas a native Slav needed as many as seven. Moreover, the Varangians and the Kylfings were entitled to give shelter to a fugitive for as many as three days, whereas Slavs and others had to hand him over directly. Also in the eleventh century, the Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
historian Al-Qazwini reported the presence of Kylfings (who he called al-Kilabiyya) in Russia and their interaction with Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern traders.
Hungary
A military organization called Kölpények is reported to have existed in Medieval HungaryKingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
The Kingdom of Hungary was formed from the previous Principality of Hungarywith the coronation of Stephen I in AD 1000. This was a result of the conversion of Géza of Hungary to the Western Church in the 970s....
during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Hungarian scholars have proposed that the Kölpények were identical with the Kylfings/Kolbiagi. Hungarian sources regard the Kölpények as being of Scandinavian origin. They were hired by the early rulers of the House of Arpad, particularly Taksony of Hungary
Taksony of Hungary
Taksony , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Taksony was the son of Zoltán , the fourth son of Árpád, the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians...
in the 950s, to serve as frontier guards. They fought with their Magyar employers alongside Sviatoslav I of Kiev
Sviatoslav I of Kiev
Sviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus...
against Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and the Byzantine Empire. Alternatively, the Kölpények may have been of Pecheneg origin, as there was a Pecheneg tribal group called Külbej during roughly the same period.
Austkylfur
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
ic poet Thorbjorn Hornklofi wrote about Austkylfur, or "East-Kylfings", in his epic poem Haraldskvæði. In some manuscripts the name was, probably erroneously, rendered auðkylfur or "rich men". Some philologists, using the nautical meaning of the word kylfa, interpret the phrase as "eastern ships". Others, such as F. Jonsson, interpreted Austkylfur to mean "eastern logs", while Vigfusson believed that the phrase properly meant simply "men of the east". Another interpretation of the term used in Haraldskvæði is the derogatory "eastern oafs".
Guðmundsson specifically identified the Austkylfur of Hornklofi's poem with the Kylfings mentioned elsewhere in Scandinavian and Eastern European sources, and interpreted the phrase Austkylfur to mean "eastern club-wielding men".
In Haraldskvæði as recorded by Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
in the Heimskringla
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...
, the Austrkylfur were described as being opponents of Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. As such they formed part of the force, led by Kjotve the Rich
Kjotve the Rich
Kjotve the Rich was a king of Agder, then a petty kingdom in southern Norway, in the late 800s. Kjotve was the father of Thor Haklang . Kjotve lead the western Norwegian kings against Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Defeated by Harald, Kjotve fled; many of his allies were killed in...
of Agder
Agder
Agder is a historical district of Norway in the southernmost region of Norway, corresponding to the two counties Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. Today, the term Sørlandet is more commonly used.-Name:...
and the kings and jarls of Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
, Rogaland
Rogaland
is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
, and Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, that came to Hafrsfjord to fight Harald's encroaching hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
. The exact relationship between the Austkylfur and the anti-Harald coalition is unknown. Nora Chadwick identifies the Austkylfur as the part of the force opposing Harald that came from Agder and Telemark. These districts lie further east than the other kingdoms opposing Harald's rule. After their defeat by Harald and his army, the Kylfings' property was plundered and their womenfolk, described as "eastern maidens", were distributed by the victorious king among his warriors.
Timeline
| Date | Work mentioned | Details |
|---|---|---|
| c. 880s | Thorbjorn Hornklofi's Haraldskvæði, composed c. 900 (as preserved in the 13th-century Heimskringla) | The "Austkylfur" participate in the Battle of Hafrsfjord Battle of Hafrsfjord The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch.The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord... between Harald Fairhair Harald I of Norway Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald... , King of Norway, and a coalition led by King Kjotve of Agder; their women are divided as spoils of war among Harald's warriors. |
| c. 900 | Egil's Saga (13th century) | Thorolf Kveldulfsson Thorolf Kveldulfsson Thorolf Kveldulfsson was the oldest son of Kveldulf Bjalfasson and the brother of the Norwegian/Icelandic goði and skald Skalla-Grimr. Thorolf is a hero of the early part of Egils saga. According to that work, he served as a retainer of Harald I of Norway and fought on the latter's own ship at the... defeated a large force of Kylfing marauders in northern Norway around this time. |
| c. 950 | Gesta Hungarorum Gesta Hungarorum Gesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii , but is generally cited as Anonymus... , written 1100-1200 |
Prince Taksony of Hungary Taksony of Hungary Taksony , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Taksony was the son of Zoltán , the fourth son of Árpád, the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians... hires mercenaries called Kölpények, probably identical with the Kylfings. |
| 970–972 | Gesta Hungarorum | Kölpények mercenaries serve in the Magyar army in support of Sviatoslav I of Kiev Sviatoslav I of Kiev Sviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus... 's Bulgar campaign. |
| c. 1000 | Runestones Sö 318, U 320, U 419, U 445 | Swedish runestones are erected bearing the personal name "Kylfingr". |
| 1010s | Russkaya Pravda, law code of the Kievan Rus' | Start of codification of Russkaya Pravda, which grants special rights and privileges to the Kolbiagi. |
| c. 1050 | Persian geographer Al-Qazwini reports the presence of Kylfings (who he called al-Kilabiyya) in Russia and discusses their interaction with Middle East Middle East The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East... ern traders. |
|
| 1070s–1080s | Byzantine chrysobulls | Koulpingoi are mentioned among other nations with contingents in the Byzantine army Byzantine army The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization... . |
| c.1100 | Gesta Hungarorum | Kölpények mercenaries still active in Hungary. |
| c.1150 | Landfræði, a geographical text by Icelander Nikulas Bergsson | Russia is referred to as Kylfingaland. |
| c.1400 | Bjarkarimur Bjarkarímur Bjarkarímur is a 15th century Icelandic rímur cycle on the Skjöldungs , and retells among other things the adventures of Hróarr and his brother Helgi , and those of Böðvarr Bjarki... , a poem based in part on the lost Skjoldunga Saga Skjöldunga saga The Skjöldunga saga was a Norse saga on the legendary Danish dynasty of the Skjöldungs, the same dynasty featured in the Old English poem Beowulf... |
Mention is made of a berserkr from the "Land of the Kylfings." |