22.3 Europe: a.d. 701 to 800  (Page 5/6)

(Continue on pages 490 and 492) Additional Notes

Scotland

Throughout the last century the Picts had fought against each other, but after a last intramural battle in 729, Oengus became king of all Picts. He promptly made peace with the Angles and then turned to battle the Scots, capturing Dunadd and Dunolly, drowning one Dalriadic king and forcing others to take to the sea. But when he wheeled south again against Strathclyde, his army was annihilated, perhaps through some treachery. (Ref. 170 ) Iona, the Scottish religious shrine island, was invaded by the Norse in 794 and was burned just after the turn of the next century. (Ref. 119 )

Ireland

The Christian world of Patrick's Ireland was shattered by Vikings in 795 and raided by them for the next 200 years. As a result of this, there are currently genetic similarities of populations of Scandinavia, Scotland and Northern Ireland, even though geographically separated. Irish monks landed in Iceland about 759, in hide-covered curraghs. (Ref. 143 , 260 )

Scandinavia

Norway | sweden | denmark

Of the territory of the Germanic peoples, only Scandinavia kept out of Charlemagne's Empire. In Sweden, the town of Birka began to dominate the area of Lake Malar. It was an economic unit of considerable importance. Even a bronze Buddha has been found there. Just west of present day Stockholm, the island of Helgo was the center of industry, including the production of cheap jewelry, iron-working, etc.

The first Dano-Norwegian raid to strike real terror in Europe was the attack on Lindisfarne, England in 789, where a famous convent and seat of learning was attacked and the inmates killed or taken off as slaves. Many of the raids of the Frisian and English coasts originated in the vigorous kingdom of Juteland in Denmark. "Viking" probably means "men from the fiords", because "vik" means "a little fiord" in both Danish and Norwegian. In addition to sea travel, the Scandinavians travelled great distances by land, as from Uppland, Sweden to Trondelag, Norway, by horses, sledges and carts. There was an ox-road from north Juteland into Germany. In winter men used skates and skies and put spikes on horses’ hooves. (Ref. 117 ) Additional Notes

Finland

In this century the Finns, coming from the south and southwest, took present day Finland (at least Karelia) from the Lapps, who receded northward. As noted previously the Finns spoke a Finno-Ugric language, related to Lapp and Livonian. Their language, although not their blood types, suggest distant relation to the Huns and the Magyars who came from the upper Volga and Oka rivers. There were three basic tribes: the Tavastians, who settled in western Finland; the Karelians; and the true Finns who had originally settled on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland. They cleared the forest and drained the marshes, but the three tribes waged war on each other. (Ref. 61 )

Eastern europe

Southern baltic area

Related to the Finns were the Borussians (Old Prussians), Esths (Estonians), Livs (Livonians), Litva (Lithuanians) and Latvians who settled the Baltic areas south of the Gulf of Finland. All of these people remained pagan for several centuries.