Dyer's Woad/ Farvevajd

Isatis tinctoria

Flora and Fauna

seeds from woad (wikipedia)

Woad/Farve-vajd (Isatis tinctoria) is a biennial plant of the cruciferous family . It grows wild in beach banks in the southeastern parts of Denmark. It was earlier cultivated and from here it went feral in nature. It is commonly called Farvevajd (Dyer's Woad) and is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem.

Woad is also the name of a blue dye produced from the leaves of the plant.

Woad is found along the coasts of the Baltic, in Central and Eastern Europe and in Central Asia.  In Denmark it was long known in Bornholm but the spread has expanded since 1960 and also includes the eastern coast of Sjælland (Zealand) and the coast of Amager, with some occurence at the coast of Storebælt.


Woad in Denmark:

Woad in the first year. (wikipedia)

Woad/ Farvevajd was used for dyeing fabrics blue in the North. The cultivation of woad stopped in Denmark ab. 1800 due to the import of indigo. Woad contains a lightfast and colourfast dye.

In the first year the woad forms a 20 cm high rosette of green leaves - if a leaf is crushed with the fingers they turn blue. The leaves from the first year are used for the dye  The colour is extracted by letting the leaves ferment in urin for ab. 5 days. In the second year the plant puts an inflorescence with yellow flowers in June, then puts seeds and wither. Today the colour from both woad and indigo are virtually outcompeted by the anilin colours.

The name vajd (1672) (weid) comes from old German weit, common German waida. It is possibly familiar to Latin vitum = glass. It was in 1670 also called glass herb, maybe because of the old name glastum.

The seeds of farvevajd was found in a house from before Roman Iron Age (400 BC)  in Ginnerup in Thy (Jutland); the plant was cultivated in Jutland in Roman Iron Age (1-200 AC). At that time no other lightfast and colourfast dye was known, until indigo ab. 1600 became a commodity in Europe. In 1792 woad plantations are mentioned at Copenhagen, outside Nørreport, where Holmblad and Son (dyers at the royal textile factory) cultivated both woad and krap (madder).

The woad was distinguished after sowing seasons, either winter- or summer woad . The leaves were cut when they were yellow headed, this could be done twice or three times during summer. After being washed the leaves were laid out to wither, and then  they were crushed with a stone on special mills or in an oblong curved trough. From the lot were formed little lumps, which after being air-dried were sold as "vejd" or "pastel"  and were used for dyeing without or with indigo. i

The plant could also dye a yellow-brown colour, and an oil could be pressed from the seeds. In ab. 1805 the woad-cultivation in Denmark had almost stopped as a result from the import of indigo. Still in 1900 woad was used for dyeing in Denmark, but the material was imported from France. In France and Germany the plant is still used for cultivation.   

In an old folk song about the knight Ramund is referred to blue yarn, which means clothes dyed by woad.

The main biotope of woad is a stony, gravelled soil along the coasts, often where is brought extra nutrients from rottening seaweed, but the plant is seldom found at the edge of roads, ruderates etc. It is possibly still cultivated as a decorative plant. It is not certain if the plant originally was spread feral from cultivation, or if the appearance at the Baltic coast is a Late Glacial relict. It is often found at the coasts of Bornholm and Sjælland, esp. East Sjælland (Zealand), where it is rare, but might be frequent in local places. It is undoubtedly under spread. In the other Danish districts is woad still very rare.


European History of Woad (from wikipedia)

Dyer's Woad/ Farvevajd  (wikipedia)

Woad was long important as a source of blue dye, it has been cultivated throughout Europe, especially in Western and southern Europe since ancient times. In medieval times there were important woad growing regions in England, Germany and France, and towns such as Toulouse became prosperous on the woad trade. Woad was eventually replaced by the stronger indigo and then by synthetic indigoes.

The first archaeological finds of woad seeds date to the Neolithic and have been found in the French cave of l'Audoste, Bouches-du Rhone, France.  Named Färberwaid (Isatis tinctoria L.) or German Indigo, of the plant family (Brassicaceae), in the Iron Age settlement of the Heuneburg, Germany, impressions of the seeds have been found on pottery. The Hallstatt burials of Hochdorf and Hohmichele contained textiles dyed with Färberwaid (woad dye).

Historians Melo and Rondão write that woad was known "as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians, who used it to dye the cloth wrappings applied for the mummies."  One of the early dyes discovered by the ancient Egyptians was "blue woad (Isatis tinctoria)." Lucas writes, "What has been assumed to have been Indian Indigo on ancient Egyptian fabrics may have been woad." Hall states that the ancient Egyptians created their blue dye "by using indigotin, otherwise known as woad." Julius Caesar tells us (in de Bello Gallico) that the Britanni used to colour their bodies blue with vitrum, a word that roughly translates to "glass". Many have assumed that vitrum refers to woad, but other modern authors regard this as a misconception, possibly repeated for political reasons; Caesar may also have described some form of copper- or iron-based pigment. The northern inhabitants of Britain came to be known as picts (Picti), which means "painted ones" in Latin, and may have been due to these accounts of them painting or tattooing their bodies.

Woad was one of the three staples of the European dyeing industry, along with weld (yellow) and madder (red).  Chaucer mentions their use by the dyer ("litestere") in his poem The Former Age, among other cultural inventions that were previously absent

No mader, welde, or wood no litestere.

Ne knew; the flees was of his former hewe

Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry (wikipedia)

The three can be seen together in tapestries such as the Hunt of the Unicorn (1495–1505), though typically it is the dark blue of the woad that has lasted best The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry, dyed with weld (yellow), madder (red) and woad (blue). 

Jean de Bernuy's house in Toulouse.

In Viking Age levels at archaeological digs at York, a dye shop with remains of both woad and madder  dating from the 10th century has been excavated. In medieval times, centres of woad cultivation lay in Lincolnshire and Somerset in England, Jülich and Erfurt area in Thuringia in Germany, Piedmont and Tuscany in Italy, and Gascogne, Normandy, the Somme Basin from Amiens to Saint Quentin, Britany and above all Languedoc in France. This last region, in the triangle created by Toulouse, Albi, and Carcassonne, was for a long time the most productive of woad, or "pastel" as it was known there, one writer commenting that "woad... hath made that country the happiest and richest in Europe." The prosperous woad merchants of Toulouse displayed their affluence in splendid mansions, many of which are still standing. One merchant, Jean de Bernuy, a Spanish Jew who had fled the inquisition, was credit-worthy enough to be the main guarantor of the ransomed King Francis I after his capture at the Battle of Pavia by Charles V of Spain. Much of the woad produced here was used for the cloth industry in southern France, but it was also exported via Bayonne, Narbonne and Bordeaux to Flanders, the Low Countries, Italy, and above all Britain and Spain.

A major market for woad was at Görlitz in Silesia. The citizens of the five Thuringian Färberwaid (dye woad) towns of Erfurt, Gotha, Tennstedt, Arnstadt and Langensalza had their own charters. In Erfurt, the woad-traders gave the funds to found the University of Erfurt.. Traditional fabric is still printed with woad in Thuringia, Saxony and Lusatia today: it is known as Blaudruck (literally, "blue print(ing)").

woad mill in Thuringia (wikipedia)

Other use: 
Medieval uses of the dye were not limited to textiles. For example, the illustrator of the Lindisfarne Gospels used a woad-based pigment for blue paint. A method for producing indigo dye from woad is described in the book The History of Woad and the Medieval Woad Vat (1998) In Germany, there are attempts to use woad to protect wood against decay without dangerous chemicals. Production is also increasing again in the UK for use in inks, particularly for inkjet printers, and dyes, as woad is biodegradable and safe in the environment, unlike many synthetic inks. The plant's presence has its problems, however, since Isatis tinctoria is viewed as an invasive species in parts of the United States.

Indigowoad Root  is a traditional Chinese medicine herb that comes from the roots of woad.







Source. Brøndegaard, folk og flora 2, Danmarks natur, Felthåndbogen, wikipedia. 
photo: borrowed from wikipedia.

Viborg - the town upon the hills with the shrine

Viborg is one of the oldest towns in Denmark.The original name was Vibjerg (Vvibuiærgh in Valdemar Sejrs Jordebog from 1231), which means "the hills with the shrine". It was in prehistoric time a sacred cultplace, where the ancient Nordic gods were worshipped. The sacred place was called a "Vi", which explains the name Viborg. The settlement consisted of spread farms up till year 1000, after which properties were being outparcelled along the road, which today is Store Sct Peders Stræde (mid-town). From here was a connection road  across the lakes to Asmild. In the Viking period a larger town emerged gradually - and it was through centuries the main town of Jutland and a political power center. Viborg got its municipal rights in 1150. The old trade and pilgrim road to Europe Hærvejen went out from here.Viborg lies upon a hillside, falling steeply into a valley along the eastern part of town. The valley is filled by the lakes Nørresø and Søndersø,the waterstreams leading to the lakes are surrounded by large meadow areas. The long lakes form a clear border of the town. The western part of Viborg is today an area with villas stretching far out into the countryside. The visible center of Viborg is still the cathedral with two towers, one of the largest churches built in granite ashlars.


 Things went quickly for the city in the middle of Jutland. Tradesmen and craftsmen settled here, where the  trade- and pilgrim road Hærvejen from the south met the country roads from north, west and east. Most important was that the Jutland chieftains gathered here on a regular basis to counsel together upon the Thing about common affairs and to celebrate the Danish kings. A celebration of the king told who had to succeed the king when he died. The first celebration in 1027 was about Hardicanute, who was Danish king from 1035-1042. The tradition went on until 1655 where Christian V. was celebrated at the Thing in Viborg.
  


Where the town leads out between the lakes, king Erik Menved let build Borgvold in 1313 in order to break the wellknown obstinacy of the Jutlanders. Here is a castle bank and a park today. The Jutlanders in the northern section of Jutland had after a counsel at the Thing in Viborg rebelled against the king's new tax notices, but they were suppressed by the king and his German mercenaries.

The Thing (Landsting) in Viborg was in the Middle Ages a Thing for the whole country. The Thing was abolished in 1805. Viborg was also a religious center. The town became bishopric in 1065, and the foundation stone of the cathedral was laid by bishop Eskil about 1130. During the Middle Ages were built three monasteries and a nunnery in Asmild, 12 parish churches and some roadside chapels. 

 


Maybe it was the wealth of the number of churches and klosters which provoced the first Danish rebellion in Viborg against the papal power. In 1525 a Johanitter monk Hans Tausen started to preach Luther's teach in Viborg, and when he was dispelled of his order, king Frederik I appointed him his chaplain.The king allowed in 1529 the civilians in Viborg to break down all the churches and chapels, which the town was not able to maintain. This meant direct cash to the Crown. The king also "took care" of the church silver. In 1529-30 the klosters were abandoned too, and the monks were driven out. The rebellious Lutheranian citizens seized the cathedral in 1530.

 

The 1500s brought progress, but in the 1600s and the 1700s the town was hit by recession, fires and wars. The town burnt both in 1567, 1615, 1667 and 1726, the last fire was especially a catastrophe. Half the city burnt down and for many years a big part of the town were nothing but black ruins. From the late 1700s the town had an important period of expansion and became what is is today: a city of institutions. It grew into a stylish town of officials. Some found it snobby. The Danish writer Peer Hultberg, the son of a judge, grew up in Viborg -  he wrote a novel where he delivered an utmost corrosive image of the citizens, who are described as the victims of their own strict consciousness.


 Most of the oldest Viborg houses were built after the big fire in 1726. The present look of the Viborg cathedral is a result of an almost complete rebuild in 1864-76. From the original church is only kept the crypt and a small part of the apse. The cathedral in Lund (Skåne) was the role model of the present building. The artist Joakim Skovgaard decorated the church with frescoes in 1899.
 

The altarpiece from the beginning of the 1500s is in another Viborg church, (Søndre Sogn) - it is called the masterpiece among the carved Netherland altarpieces in Denmark. East of the lakes is the old Asmild kloster, the oldest section of a nunnery built around 1100. It was in Asmild church king Erik Emune let bishop Eskil of Viborg kill in front of the altar during mass.

Because of its central situation and the many roads leading to Viborg the city has a large trade and a diversified industry. First of all it is an important administration- and institution town with courts, state districts, a large hospital and nurse school, media schools, teacher seminary, trade school, domestic arts school, cathedral school and a district gymnasium. North of Viborg is the beautiful scenery of Hjarbæk fjord, south of Viborg the deep Hald lake with old oak- and beech woods, Dollerup bakker with heather hills. The historic murder place Finderup lade does not exist anymore, but the historic village lies west of the forests. King Erik Klipping was killed here on Sct. Cecilia-night, 22 November in 1286. He is buried in Viborg cathedral.

Tourist sailing: a boat Margrethe I sails in the summer season on the lakes from where is a magnificent view to the city. City Museum in a historistic styled  and richly decorated building; the Skovgård Museum with art  exhibitions in the old Baroque town hall; "Brænderiet" which is art and culture center with alternate art exhibitions . In the Biblical gardens is opportunity to study the plants mentioned in the Bible; a garden called "Pilehaven" where the old Johannitterkloster was placed, until it was broken down in 1578. A basket weaver has formed the hedges, benches and huts in the park from willow and maple branches. "Latinerhaven", a labyrinthic park, with a fountain " Løvebrønden" (Lion's well), the park has a memorial for the ornitologist H.Chr. Mortensen, called Fuglemortensen (Bird Mortensen); he put Viborg on the map when he in 1899 put the ringing of birds in system. From the Gråbrødrekloster (Fransiscan kloster) in 1236 is little kept, but the ground plan of the kloster is marked by beech hedges.

photo Viborg 2006/2010/2011: grethe bachmann

The Vikings in Ireland, Danelaw, Normandy and Russia

Colonization, Settlement and Trade.


The Viking- expeditions are a chapter in itself, and many have described the dramatic and brutal events from the first Viking attacks on Ireland and England. Scribbled in the margin of a manuscript, the words of a 9th century monk reveal some of the emotion: "The wind is fierce tonight. It tosses the sea's white hair. I fear no wild Vikings, sailing the quiet main." I have chosen to tell a little about the more peaceful time afterwards, where the Vikings established settlements and trade routes. The Norwegians in Ireland, the Danes  in Danelaw , the Danes and Norwegians in Normandy and the Swedes in Russia. The Vikings in the desolate islands in the North Atlantic accommodated their new life undisturbed after a homely model, but where the various Viking nations were settling among foreign cultures - among equal or superior people -  then it is interesting to know, if they succeeded in leaving their stamp on the foreign societies, if they made a historical contribution - or if it was just a transient superficial phaenomenon. 

 

















The Norwegians in Ireland 


"The Tower", a Viking's tale:
We had been at sea for days now. At least the weather had been kind to us on this voyage. On the last trip to these lands we found rich pickings of silver and gold. We were hoping for more this time. May Thor look kindly on us. The boat was coming to shore now, and all hands were needed to row and keep us off the rocks. Looking up, I saw that a surprise attack was going to be difficult. We could see a round tower in the distance. The last time we were here there was no tower.
As we came near the shore we heard the bell in the tower ring. "Hurry, hurry here goes the warning bell. They will be waiting for us. They will have their valuables in the tower" I shouted. We rowed the boat into a small bay. We got our weapons and headed for the monastery. Suddenly horses came from behind a big rock. We were caught by surprise and soon we had to retreat to our ship.
Some of our men had been captured and we decided to wait and see if we could negotiate with the Irish. The next morning we sent three men with no weapons to the monastery to talk. Soon we agreed to make peace. We promised not to attack the monastery any more and to teach the Irish how to make better weapons out of iron. The Irish promised to give back the captured Vikings and to let us camp by the bay for the winter.
By the springtime ourselves and the Irish were good friends. The Irish now had very good weapons. Some of the us Vikings sailed back to Norway to bring our wives and families to our new home by the little bay in Ireland. Soon it grew into a town.


 

















Meeting the Irish
The Norwegians met one of the small kingdoms of Ireland. The Irish kingdoms were a roughly made society, not able to organize any military opposition. The Vikings found a century old independent Christianity, independent of Rome, but with its own traditions and own spiritual power, committed to writings in several large klosters. And they met a population with a strange uncompromising temper, not at all disposed to live a peaceful common life with strangers. Since the Norwegians were some hard-bitten fellows themselves, who preferred violence to a long negotiation, there was no base for a fruitful colonization and a fusion of cultures. This seemed somehow to begin in the end of the Viking period, but in the late 1200s the Englishmen arrived (summoned by the Irish ) - and they began something else, namely their 800 year's supremacy of the island.

Although there wasn't a real Norwegian colonization with conquering and settlement of large territories inland, it is without doubt that the century-long presence of the Norwegian Vikings along the Irish coast had a significance in itself. Several fortificated harbours of East-, South- and West Ireland, places like Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick, became gradually flourishing commercial towns, surrounded by Norse hinterland. The Irish coast cities became Norwegian trade centers. Dublin was a rich city, but not the only one. In 968 the Irish found during the looting of Limerick large stores of gold, silver and woven fabrics in every colour; satin, silk and cloth. And the Irish learned about ship building and navigation from the Norwegians. From the small colonies by the sea ports was occassionally a friendly contact to the Irish population of the inland, but nothing more came out of it.

   
















The Danes and the Danelaw in England

Danelaw, the Danes and the English, an excerpts from the peace-document of king Alfred and king Guthrum: 
"This is the peace that King Alfred and King Guthrum, and the witan of all the English nation, and all the people that are in East Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths confirmed, for themselves and for their descendants, as well for born as for unborn, who reck of God's mercy of ours.
1. Concerning our land and boundaries: Up on the Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its source, then straight to Bedford, then up on the Ouse unto Watling Street. " 
-  Alfred and Guthrum's peace, available at:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/guthrum.html

 














The Viking Farmers 
Another picture than in Ireland was seen in the Danelaw (Danelagh),  marked by the distinctive traces after a constant farmer- colonization. First of all an administrative classification, partly in "hundreds", partly in "vaabenlag". A "hundred" must have been a district, representing something, maybe a hundred warriors or a hundred ploughs, while "vaabenlag" refers to the thing, where the decisions of the gathering were confirmed by "taking the weapon". The men were swinging or clanking their spear and sword and shield. A "vaabenlag" was later the district of a thing-assembly. Maybe the term "hundred" is old Anglo-Saxon (common Germanic), while "vaabenlag" is Danish.

As for practical law and institutions there are traces of Danish influence in several places, like about fines. The size of the fine varied in Danelaw according to the rank of the killed mand, while this in other places of England was graduated according  to the killed man's master. This first mentioned law was a Nordic view:"equal right of free men".  Something indicates that the sworn jury,which was unknown in the Anglo Saxon law, origins from the Danes in Danelagh. The legal provisions said that 12 leading personalities (thegns) in each "vaabenlag" had to solemnly swear an oath that they would not accuse any innocent or protect any guilty man. It was further said in these laws (Danelaws, preserved in the so-called Æthelred II codex) about these 12 thegns that a majority of 8 was enough to make a decision. A prominent English historian, Stenton, points out that this was the first time in England that the opinion of the majority was confirmed as decisive.

Historian examinations have made it probable that poor, but mostly independent free men, formed the essence of society in  Danelaw. These so-called "sokemen" belonged by duty to the big landowner of the district; they had to work for him and to give him money, but the land they had themselves was their land to own. These basic relations in the society-building of Danelaw was described as a peasant-aristocracy, which is seen clearly in William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book, where several Danish place names also are mentioned.

The Danish Viking came to England with his sword, but he came to stay, and he took over land and plough; he must partly have driven out the settled Anglo Saxon population, but there is no talk about any extermination. He brought his language, his way of life and his legal system, everything was wellknown and visible high up in the Middle Ages. His way of life and his old legal customs were basically different from the feudal system, which was on its way to England from Europe. The convergence and the assimiliation grew slowly during the Middle Ages.

The only thing the Nordic Viking gave up relatively quick -  in spite of a few testimonies of the opposite - was the religion from his homeland. Either his old religion was too weak or the foreign religion was too strong. This goes for both the Vikings in Ireland, England, France and Russia. They annected Christianity, probably for convenience or from political reasons. Rollo let himself be baptized already in 912.



















A century later Canute the Great, son of  the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, is king in England and the famous scene on the seashore describes how Christianity had got a firm hold of the Viking warrior:

Canute the Great talks:
"Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings. For there is none worthy of the name but God, whom heaven, earth and sea obey".
So spoke King Canute the Great, the legend says, seated on his throne on the seashore, waves lapping round his feet. Canute had learned that his flattering courtiers claimed he was "So great, he could command the tides of the sea to go back". Now Canute was not only a religious man, but also a clever politician. He knew his limitations - even if his courtiers did not - so he had his throne carried to the seashore and sat on it as the tide came in, commanding the waves to advance no further. When they didn't, he had made his point that, though the deeds of kings might appear 'great' in the minds of men, they were as nothing in the face of God's power.


 
















The Danes and Norwegians in Normandy


The proud and arrogant Rollo:
So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The king and his troops stood on one side of a little river and Rollo with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them. The king asked Rollo what he wanted.
"Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks, let us make ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals," answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So the king gave him that part of Francia, and ever since it has been called Normandy, the land of the Northmen. 
When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal. The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion, however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. The king was on horseback, and the Norseman, standing by the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse, to the great amusement of the Norsemen.  

Another State System and the dominant Rollo: 
After the transfer to Rollo, the leader of a Nordic army, Normandy was through the following 2-3 centuries a mixed Nordic Frankish duchy, and it was very different from England's Danelaw.  

Normandy was a neigbour to the Frankish German empires in the West and Middle Europe. Here was the growing system of vasals, the feudalism. The Nordic Vikings came close to a state system quite different from their own, and it seems that they had to bow to the inevitable. From the beginning Rollo is the strong sole ruler in his new country, and his power as a duke remains the predominant feature in the future. In his and his successor's time nothing is heard about free popular assemblies at the thing - or much about a Nordic legal system. "Hundred" like in Danelaw was not known in Normandy. The duke and his magnates had all the power, which was inexorably centralized and militarized.


It's characteristic for the condition how the peasants in Normandy about year 1000 sent delegates to a common assembly, which they had summoned themselves. They wanted to rise a demand of free access to use the lakes,water streams and forests of the country. All the delegates were by Rollo's uncle, count Rodulf, captured and mutilated by cutting off one hand and one foot - then they could go home and tell, who had the rights of the woods and the waters! There is no information, if these peasants were the old Frankish inhabitants of the duchy, but it's possible that some Norse peasants were also learning ,who was in power.

Administrative assemblies did exist in Normandy, but they were only "herredage" = the assemblies of secular and clerical magnates around the duke's closest family. The feudalism was possibly not fully developed in Normandy in the 10th and 11th century, but it was no doubt in a very good start, and there was now a certain distance to the old Viking-saying: We are all equal! 

The Viking in Normandy left memories about their presence like the Vikings in Danelaw - and place names too . The endings - bec, - bu, -digue and -toot are Nordic  features (Danish: bæk, by, dige, tofte) like several others. The Nordic place names in Normandy are according to a filological decision mostly Danish. Rollo was either a Dane or a Norwegian, no one knows for sure. Late Norrøne sources say Norwegian, while earlier Frankish  - like Dudo in 960 -  says Danish.  The Norman historian and cleric Dudo lived for a long time in Normandy by duke Richard 1's court  Richards grandfather was Rollo, and his father William sent his young son to Bayeux to learn Danish. Rollo's famous great-great-great-great-grandson was William the Conqueror. The name William is still used in the royal English house.



 

















The Swedes in Russia 

Rurick settles in Russia:
In answer to this petition the Viking Rurick, with his two brothers, came to settle in what is now Russia. These Northmen were often called Varangians or Varingars. No one is sure how they got this name, but it is believed to be Arabian in origin. The Arabians, at least, called all the northern peoples Varangians, whether they invented the name or not. But the people who lived in Finland called them the Rousses, and soon the Slav subjects of Rurick came to be called Russians and their country Russia. Rous in Finnish today means a Swede. So it seems probable that the name of the greatest Slavonic people is of Finnish and not of Slavonic origin. 
Rurick made his capital at Novgorod, and two years after his settlement there his brothers died, and he became sole ruler of the province. We know very little of his government or whether the people lived to regret having called a foreigner to rule over them. But it is said that after a time two Viking warriors, one named Askold and one named Dir, became discontented with his rule. So, taking several companions with them, they left Novgorod and set out to seek their fortunes at Constantinople. On their way they came upon a castle on the banks of Dnieper with a small town round it. "Whose castle is this?" they asked of the inhabitants.  "It was built by three brothers," replied they, "but they are long since dead. We are their descendants and pay tribute to the Khazars." Hearing that Askold and Dir took possession of the town, which was called Kief. 
They were soon joined by other Northmen, and thus a second Viking settlement was made in Russia. This second settlement soon increased, and then, with true Viking audacity and love of adventure, they made up their minds to attack Constantinople. Dwelling far inland although they now were, these Northmen had not forgotten their skill as sailors. Soon twohundred dragonheaded boats went sailing down the Dnieper and out into the Black Sea, and ere long the terrified inhabitants of Constantinople saw, for the first time, the gay sails and long narrow boats of the dreaded Northmen.  The Greeks were paralyzed with fear. Nothing but a miracle, it seemed, could save them from destruction. The miracle happened, for a sudden storm arose which shattered the Viking ships, only a miserable remainder of which, like wounded birds, crept slowly back to Kief.

 
















The Trade in a large Continent:
How did the Swedish Vikings behave in the East? These Viking expeditions had a special character. The main purpose was the trade. The Swedish Russia expeditions were not like the Danish in England based on the acquisition of large settlement areas, but based on a retention of long important trade routes. They can somewhat be compared to the Norwegian expeditions in Ireland, where the wish was to have supporting trade points with connected small colony areas.

To the Swedes Russia was a large continent with rivers. Both Novgorod, Smolensk and Kiev were Slavic cities with Swedish military power and garrison crew once, and a large burial site at Guezdovo near Smolensk indicates the presence of a Swedish military and trade-colony. There were no signs of farming societies like in Danelaw and Normandy; the trade lines were long and had to be taken care of -  this left no time for farming, and the lands the Swedes had to pacify were enormous. The assimiliation and the fusion with the local population were difficult like in Ireland. All the people of those large land districts were of a foreign tribe, and they all talked a different language, some spoke a Celtic language, others a Slavic - it was easier in England, where the population was of a related German tribe.

In the end of the Viking period the assumption is that the long Swedish trade lines from the mother country to the Byzantic world had to be abandoned. The Kiev kingdom and the West Russian cities became more and more Slavic, and the Swedish activities in these far districts of Russia were soon only history. But in the northern Russia (Ladoga country), in Finland and in the northern Baltic the Swedish expeditions and colony work continued through the 12th and 13th centuries.

Source: 
Johannes Brøndsted: Vikingerne, Vikingen ude - Vest og Øst. Gyldendal 1960.Politikens Danmarkshistorie, Da Danmark blev Danmark, Peter Sawyer, Gyldendal og Politiken, 1993; Barrie Markham Rhodes, From Viking warrior to English King, Viking network, 2004,

Klitmøller , "The Cold Hawaii" at the North Sea.

Welcome to a tour around Klitmøller and Thy!



Klitmøller is a town and an earlier landing place in Thy about 10 km southwest of Hanstholm and 17 km northwest of Thisted, with ab. 825 inhabitants, the number increases in the summer season with many guests in the holiday houses and on the camping sites. There is a varied range of shops and boutiques.

The town lies in the northwestern part of Jutland with the waters of Limfjorden to the east, the North Sea to the west, Hanstholm to the north and the National Park Thy to the south. Here is an experience of the great force of the North Sea, when the strong Atlantic swell from Iceland and the Faroes drifts against the coast. Here is fresh air, clean bathing water and large areas of virgin nature.


The large reserve - the distance from where he walks and further into the area is much, much longer than you imagine, and the moist terrain makes a heavy walk.......


a lake with no name in the dunes, here might be cranes, but they were out visiting somewhere that morning.....

If you drive north from Klitmøller, you arrive at the Hansted-Reserve, the largest nature reserve in Denmark. From 1. April till 15. July is here no access for the public because of the birds' breeding season. Inside a distance of 2 km are the prettiest dune plantations in the country and good possibilites for mushrooms experts and bikers. There are maps with informations about biking routes etc.

In 2007 was 244 km2 of the Thy-district appointed "Nationalpark Thy" - Denmark's first nationalpark. It stretches from a 12 km long belt along the North Sea coast from Hanstholm to the north and Agger Tange to the south. Here are the large dune-heaths and clean nutrient-poor lakes. The old fishing villages Klitmøller and Vorupør lie like small oases at the North Sea in the middle of the national park.

more info nationalparkthy


The Cold Hawaii
Klitmøller is famous for being a surfing paradise.

Klitmøller has a fine bathing beach and high white dunes. The western wind has formed small hollows in the sand creating lovely shelters on a sunny day. After special wind- and stream conditions you can find amber on the beach.

There are fine opportunities for bathing and surfing. The town is often mentioned as The Cold Hawaii, and it is especially in the discipline Waveperformance inside windsurfing and surfing that has exceptional conditions here. Klitmøller hosted the Danish masterships in waveperformance up through the 90s, EM in 1996 and WM in 1998. The relatively new sport kitesurfing has also attracted many practitioners from Denmark and abroad to Klitmøller with the strong wind and the large waves.

There are good overnight-possibilities, i.e. holiday houses, rooms and authorized camping sites, several restaurants, cafés and grillbars, mostly open in the summer season. Each year in the first week-end of June is the summer feast celebrated.




Earlier was Klitmøller a landing place for the coast fishing boats. The boats were pulled up and out with a winch. The landing place is still preserved and the fishing continues from small dinghys. Each day, when the weather allows it, the small boats come in with various fish, lobsters and crab's claws, the local delicatesse. For sports fishers are good opportunites for catching fish from the fishing cutters in Vorupør and Hanstholm or from the shelter-mole in Nørre Vorupør.



Nors Sø, a fine area with osprey and lots of geese and other birds and a varied flora.

The name Klitmøller origins from the 1600s, where 3 mills were placed close to the North Sea, surrounded by dunes. The mills were used for corn grinding, and the corn exported to Norway in special flat-bottomed boats, which could be drawn up on the sand. The boats came back with timber from Norway. At that time Klitmøller was the most important trading town in the area. Several boat captains grew immensely rich. Some of the success was caused by that Agger Tange was closed - it was impossible to sail into Limfjorden. This boat trade went on at several plaes along the north western coast of Jutland, but Klitmøller was the most important trading place. The town had its great period between 1600 and 1819, but it lost its central importance, when the North Sea broke through Agger Tange, making the passage free for sailing. The lifeboat station in Klitmøller was established in 1847 and abandoned in 1979. From 1852 till 1954 were 57 rescues and 543 people were saved.

In the sand dunes by town are i.e. lyme grass, heather, crowberry, sea holly and marsh-gentian, which is also found in the dune-heaths. Upon the heath breed i.e. the sandpiper and the crane. To the east are great coniferous plantations with two large lakes Vester Vandet Sø and Nors Sø.

new biking route

A photo collection from the area:

heather and honeysuckle (click to enlarge the small photos)

Lotus and bell heather with a red Admiral

Family at the beach and sweet gale

Kestrel and knotweed in a small lake with no name

Scabiosa and Peacock butterfly

Tømmerby church and a fishing village

chessboard Hillerslev church and forest after fire in dry summer

Common Blue and lovely horses

sea holly and small lake in the dunes

The nature in the nationalpark in Thy is so rich, and it is a joy just to take a walk there from one of the many parking places in the area. In many places are maps to inform people what is special exactly here as to flora and fauna, but also maps of biking and hiking routes etc.

Never give up without a fight!

It was exciting to see how the surfers fought the waves. I have never tried surfing, but it must be difficult just to get on the surfboard. This guy went on and on like the other surfers, and at last he succeeded in flying across the water. It looks so amazing - and it must be a wonderful feeling.

Hanstholm light tower

photos Thy August 2007: grethe bachmann