The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction by Julian D. Richards Read Free Book Online Page B

distance from Borg to the southern border of Denmark is as great as from there to Rome!
    The original timber and sod-walled longhouse was built in the 5th–6th centuries, but during the 7th century this was extended and replaced by a second aisled hall, c .80 metres long by 7.5–9
    metres wide. The hall was divided into three aisles by two rows of timber posts which supported the roof; it had five rooms and five entrances. The hall continued in use for some 300 years; by the time it was demolished it must have been a very old-fashioned building, although its long life and traditional architecture may have signalled the long continuity of the ruling family.
    s
    Despite its northerly location the climate was ameliorated by the g
    kin
    Gulf Stream, and everyday life revolved around cattle, reflected by a e Vi
    substantial byre, although barley was also grown. Sinkers and Th
    fishhooks demonstrate that fishing was also a significant component of activity, and the stockfish trade was no doubt important. Large quantities of iron slag were found and forging may have been undertaken in a smithy, although iron was imported from southern Norway. Soapstone was also imported and various artefacts were manufactured here: spindle whorls, drilling weights, net sinkers, and loom weights. Multicoloured pendant whetstones, of a type known from Hedeby, were also produced. Other finds included sherds of two Tating-ware jugs and 12–13 glass vessels of the 8th–10th centuries, some decorated with applied gold foil, which link the owner to the ceremonial drinking tradition of the north European elite. The imported goods represent symbols of power and prestige; similar imported objects have been found only at Kaupang in Norway. Parallels have been drawn between Borg and Ohthere’s account of c .890. No doubt he visited the feasting hall, although it has been concluded that this farm belonged to another chieftain, named Tore Hjort. Ruins of large boathouses 36
    show the chieftain certainly possessed boats capable of sailing the same distances as Ohthere. The economic basis may have been similar, although no walrus bones found, and there were no artefactual links with the Saami.
    Ohthere
    Ohthere, or Ottar, was a Norwegian merchant who visited King Ælfred in the late 9th century. Although we do not know what language they spoke, or whether they used an interpreter, Ælfred asked Ohthere about his lifestyle and travels, and had them recorded in English.
    Chan
    Ohthere’s homeland was in the far north of Norway, above ges in th
    the Arctic Circle, and his farm may have resembled that excavated at Borg. His land was poor and much of Ohthere’s e countr
    income came from exploiting the reindeer. He also went whaling and walrus-hunting, and took tribute from yside
    the neighbouring Lapps. This was in kind (presumably walrus ivory and furs) and so Ohthere had his own ship and travelled south to the markets of Northern Europe.
    Ohthere told Ælfred that no one lived north of him but that there was a market town to the south called Sciringesheal
    (Kaupang). He said that it took at least a month to get there under sail if you laid up at night and had a favourable wind every day. All the time you must sail along the coast. From Kaupang he said he sailed five days to the trading town at Hedeby.
    In the 10th–11th centuries the chieftain’s residence was succeeded by three much smaller buildings which seem to reflect a more 37
    typical farmstead. This may indicate a dramatic change in local power politics, associated with the rise of royal Norwegian power.
    The pattern is similar to the end of the aristocratic central places and settlement disruption seen in southern Scandinavia.
    Borg was a religious centre both in pagan and Christian times. The central room in the hall appears to have been used for feasting, cult ceremonies, and festivities. The majority of the imported objects, including fragments of a hanging bowl, five guldgubber , and the head of