The Viking Eastern Baltic

by Marika Mägi

Most overviews dealing with eastern Vikings have cast the Eastern Baltic peoples in a predominantly passive role during the large-scale Viking movement into the region. This book demonstrates how communication networks over the Baltic Sea and further east were established and how they took different forms in the northern and the southern halves of the Eastern Baltic. Archaeological as well as written sources indicate the impact these networks had on the development of local societies. In particular, areas along the northern Baltic Sea, both on the eastern and the western coasts, were characterized by a shared cultural sphere for warriors. Changes in archaeological evidence along relevant trade routes through these areas suggest that the inhabitants of present-day Finland and the Baltic States were more engaged in Viking eastern movement than is generally believed.

112 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2019

Reviews

[Christin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent source. Great details on pre-viking era regarding Baltic and Finnish Vikings, Semigalians and Curonian culture. With images of artifacts, trade routes and hill-forts. And the author draws similarities to other Scandinavian and German ornoments, burials and other assets. And mentions of the Baltic in Norse mythology. Must read if your from the Baltics and Finland!

[Cathleen Sarti · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just wasn't for me - even though the book series is supposed to give introductions to the historiography and the topic, I thought it much too specific focussed on different archaeological and source debates. It probably is much more interesting to early medievalists, though.

[Dan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, shorter book on the Viking times in the Baltic states. This is an often overlooked area of Viking History. Well Worth the read.

[Costanza Miccichè · Rating 4 out of 5]

(English below)

Un libricino che fa da ottima introduzione alle influenze e traccia alcuni schemi sui rapporti tra le popolazioni del Baltico e le culture scandinave nella cosiddetta Età vichinga. Non penso, però, che sia adatto a chi ha poca dimestichezza con l'argomento. La questione delle influenze "vichinghe" sulle popolazioni vicine è delicata, perchè troppo spesso ha preso la piega della supremazia scandinava che controlla ed esporta civiltà alle popolazioni limitrofe (Slavi, Baltici, Finni). C'è sempre, inoltre, il problema di definire terminologicamente e geograficamente cosa sia stata l'Età vichinga, perché nell'ultimo decennio c'è la tendenza a esportare questa periodizzazione anche al di fuori della cornice che le sarebbe propria.
Essendo un piccolo libro concentrato esclusivamente sulle fonti archeologiche, con l'integrazione di qualche fonte letteraria (soprattutto Snorri Sturluson), e avendo come obiettivo far risaltare sia l'influenza reciproca tra Baltici e Scandinavi sia l'autonomia materiale degli stessi Baltici il libro non offre spazio a un'analisi critica approfondita degli argomenti che ho detto prima. Ma, ripeto, è comunque una buona introduzione, o un buon riassunto per chi già conosce più in profondità l'argomento.
Il punto di forza secondo me sta nel far comprendere (nonostante io sia la prima a criticare l'utilizzo e l'estensione impropri di "Età vichinga" a qualunque regione) che è errato proprio alla radice pensare che l'espansione marittima vichinga sia stato un fenome nato dal nulla, all'improvviso, ma che al contrario è nata come la naturale e più ampia prosecuzione di una certa cultura marittima condivisa nata nei secoli precedenti e a cui partecipavano non solo popolazioni di lingua scandinava ma grosso modo tutte le popolazioni che si affacciavano sul Mar Baltico.

*English review*

A short book that serves as an excellent introduction to the influences and traces some patterns in the relationships between the Baltic populations and the Scandinavian cultures in the so-called Viking Age. However, I don't think it is suitable for those who are unfamiliar with the topic. The question of "Viking" influences on neighbouring populations is delicate because too often it has taken the form of Scandinavian supremacy which controls and exports civilization to neighbouring populations (Slavs, Balts, Finns). Furthermore, there is always the problem of defining terminologically and geographically what the Viking Age was, because, in the last decade, there has been a tendency to export this periodization even outside its proper framework.
Being a small book concentrated exclusively on archaeological sources, with the integration of some literary sources (especially Snorri Sturluson), and having as its objective to highlight both the mutual influence between Balts and Scandinavians and the material autonomy of the Balts themselves, the book does not offer space for an in-depth critical analysis of the arguments I mentioned above. But, I repeat, it is still a good introduction or a good summary for those who already know the topic in more depth.
The strong point, in my opinion, lies in making people understand (even though I am the first to criticize the improper use and extension of "Viking Age" to any region) that it is fundamentally wrong to think that the Viking maritime expansion was a phenomenon born out of nowhere, suddenly, but which on the contrary was born as the natural and broader continuation of a certain shared maritime culture born in previous centuries and in which not only Scandinavian-speaking populations participated but roughly all the populations that they overlooked the Baltic Sea.