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Vol. II , Issue I |
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The Viking Saga of Åland
The Vikings in ÅlandKvarnbo, in the province of Saltvik, is on the northern edge of the cluster of islands that make up Åland, an autonomous state of Finland. The people speak Swedish and follow Swedish customs. After many centuries of being a battleground for foreigners, Åland organized as a non-aggressive, neutral land. Today you can sail to peaceful Åland in your own Viking boat or take a commercial ferry from Sweden or from Finland. This cluster of 6,500 islands has provided a trade and transshipment center since the first people arrived four centuries BC. Saltvik, named for the salt trade, was one of the important stops of the Vikings who roamed the northern seas between 800 and 1000 AD. While we associate Vikings with violence, evidence shows their success in trading and farming enabled them to set up colonies in Scotland, England, Wales, France, Russia and throughout Scandinavia. Archaeologists have found Viking harbors, remains of workshops and gravesites throughout Åland. People seeking to connect with a Viking heritage find a wealth of sites in Åland. This is particularly true of Saltvik. Besides the annual Viking Market, guides show visitors Borgboda, where the Vikings built a cliff-top fortress. At the Åland Museum in the main town of Mariehamn a variety of displays highlight the time of the Vikings. Archaeologists have found items in Vikings' graves that came from Persia, Samarkand, Baghdad and other exotic locations. According to the museum brochure "Precious finds include sword blades and lance tips made by Frankish smiths and a gold sword pommel finely worked in filigree technique was probably made in the Rhineland." Whether the Vikings acquired these treasures by trade, or by raid, they do prove the breadth of their travels.
Viking reenactor Bryan Betts points out that one of the cases "holds female jewelry from the Viking period and there are at least three different styles of brooch representing three different cultures." Betts, a Londoner, works with a group called Theme Vikings. He went to the Åland Viking Market in July 2000 to demonstrate show fighting and to visit the islands. He says, "Åland is interesting because like other Baltic islands it was a meeting place for different cultures. The Swedes on one side, the Gotlanders on the south, the Finns, Estonians, Karelians and all their relatives to the east, and also the Slavs and Balts of course."
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