Bjarmaland
Encyclopedia
Bjarmaland was a territory mentioned in Norse saga
s up to the Viking Age
and - beyond - in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually seen to have referred to the southern shores of the White Sea
and the basin of the Northern Dvina
River (Vienanjoki in Finnish) and - presumably - some of the surrounding areas. Today, these territories comprise a part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast
of Russia
.
In the account of the Viking adventurer Ottar
who visited Bjarmaland in the end of the 9th century AD, the term "Beorm" is used for the people of Bjarmaland. According to the account, "Beormas
" spoke a language related to that of the Sami people
, and lived in an area of the White Sea region.
Accordingly, many historians assume the terms beorm and bjarm to derive from the Uralic
word perm
, which refers to "travelling merchants" and represents the Old Permic culture. However, some linguists consider this theory to be speculative.
The recent research on the Uralic substrate in northern Russian dialects suggests that several other Uralic groups besides the Permians lived in Bjarmaland, assumed to have included the Viena Karelians, Sami and Kvens.
Based on medieval sources, Bjarmaland's closest neighbor in the west was Kvenland. According to some medieval accounts and maps, Kvenland included also the Kola Peninsula
north from Bjarmaland, as stated e.g. in the late 1150s' AD Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan
in which the Icelandic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson writes that north from Värmland
there are "two Kvenlands (Kvenlönd), which extend to north of Bjarmia (Bjarmalandi)".
Bjarmian trade reached south-east to Bulgar
by the Volga River
where the Bjarmians also interacted with Scandinavia
ns and Fennoscandia
ns, who adventured southbound from the Baltic Sea
area.
literature, possible for the area where Arkhangelsk
is presently situated, and where it was preceded by a Bjarmian settlement. The first appearance of the name is in the Voyage of Ohthere, which was undertaken ca 890. According to Ohthere, it was the first Scandinavian voyage to the Bjarmians, but this information is not reliable.
The name Permian
is found in the oldest Rus', Nestor's Chronicle (1000–1100). The names of other Uralic tribes are also listed including Veps, Cheremis, Mordvin, and Chudes.
The place-name was also used later both by the German historian Adam of Bremen
(11th century) and the Icelander Snorri Sturluson
(1179–1241) in Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, reporting about its rivers flowing out to Gandvik
. It's not clear if they reference the same Bjarmaland as was mentioned in the Voyage of Ohthere, however. The Bjarmian god Jomali is Finnic
but the description of the god is more Siberian. Especially the crown adorned with twelve stars in gold is characteristic to Siberian shaman caps.
Olaus Magnus
located Bjarmaland in the Kola Peninsula
, while Johannes Schefferus
(1621–1679) argued it was equal to Lappland
.
According to the Voyage of Ohthere, the Norwegian
merchant Ottar
(Ohthere) reported to king Alfred the Great
that he had sailed for several days along the northern coast and then southwards, finally arriving at a great river, probably the Northern Dvina
. At the estuary of the river dwelt the Beormas, who unlike the nomadic Sami people
s were sedentary, and their land was rich and populous. Ohthere did not know their language but he said that it resembled the language of the Sami people
. The Bjarmians told Ohthere about their country and other countries that bordered it.
Later several expeditions were undertaken from Norway to Bjarmaland. In 920, Eirik Bloodaxe made a Viking expedition, as well as Harald II of Norway
and Haakon Magnusson of Norway
, in 1090.
The best known expedition was that of Tore Hund
(Tore Dog) who together with some friends, arrived in Bjarmaland in 1026. They started to trade with the inhabitants and bought a great many pelts, whereupon they pretended to leave. Later, they made shore in secret, and plundered the burial site, where the Bjarmians had erected an idol of their god Jomali. This god had a bowl containing silver on his knees, and a valuable chain around his neck. Tore and his men managed to escape from the pursuing Bjarmians with their rich booty.
Modern historians suppose that the wealth of the Bjarmians
was due to their profitable trade along the Dvina
, the Kama River
and the Volga to Bolghar
and other trading settlements in the south. Along this route, silver coins and other merchandise were exchanged for pelts and walrus tusks brought by the Bjarmians. In fact, burial sites in modern Perm Krai
are the richest source of Sasanian
and Sogdian
silverware from Iran
. Further north, the Bjarmians traded with the Sami.
It seems that the Scandinavians made some use of the Dvina trade route, in addition to the Volga trade route
and Dnieper trade route. In 1217, two Norwegian traders arrived in Bjarmaland to buy pelts; one of the traders continued further south to pass to Russia in order to arrive in the Holy Land
, where he intended to take part in the Crusades
. The second trader who remained was, however, killed by the Bjarmians. This caused Norwegian officials to undertake a campaign of retribution into Bjarmaland which they pillaged in 1222.
The 13th century seems to have seen the decline of the Bjarmians, who became tributaries of the Novgorod Republic
. While many Slavs fled the Mongol invasion northward, to Beloozero and Bjarmaland, the displaced Bjarmians sought refuge in Norway
, where they were given land in Malangen
, by Haakon IV of Norway
, in 1240. More important for the decline was probably that, with the onset of the Crusades
, the trade routes had found a more westerly orientation or shifted considerably to the south.
When the Novgorodians founded Velikiy Ustiug, in the beginning of the 13th century, the Bjarmians had a serious competitor for the trade. More and more Pomors
arrived in the area during the 14th and 15th centuries, which led to the final subjugation and assimilation of the Bjarmians by the Slavs.
Norse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
s up to the Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
and - beyond - in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually seen to have referred to the southern shores of the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
and the basin of the Northern Dvina
Northern Dvina
The Northern Dvina is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River to the east, it drains most of Northwest Russia into the Arctic Ocean...
River (Vienanjoki in Finnish) and - presumably - some of the surrounding areas. Today, these territories comprise a part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
In the account of the Viking adventurer Ottar
Ottar from Hålogaland
Ohthere of Hålogaland was a Viking adventurer from Hålogaland. Around 890 AD he travelled to England, where Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, had his tales written down....
who visited Bjarmaland in the end of the 9th century AD, the term "Beorm" is used for the people of Bjarmaland. According to the account, "Beormas
Permians
The Permians are a branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples and include Komis and Udmurts, speakers of Permic languages. Formerly the name Bjarmians was also used to describe these peoples...
" spoke a language related to that of the Sami people
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
, and lived in an area of the White Sea region.
Accordingly, many historians assume the terms beorm and bjarm to derive from the Uralic
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
word perm
Great Perm
Great Perm or simply Perm, Latinized Permia, was a medieval Komi state in what is now the Perm Krai of the Russian Federation.Cherdyn is said to have been its capital....
, which refers to "travelling merchants" and represents the Old Permic culture. However, some linguists consider this theory to be speculative.
The recent research on the Uralic substrate in northern Russian dialects suggests that several other Uralic groups besides the Permians lived in Bjarmaland, assumed to have included the Viena Karelians, Sami and Kvens.
Based on medieval sources, Bjarmaland's closest neighbor in the west was Kvenland. According to some medieval accounts and maps, Kvenland included also the Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
north from Bjarmaland, as stated e.g. in the late 1150s' AD Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan
Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan
The geographical chronicle Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan was published in c. 1157 AD by Níkulás Bergsson , the abbot of the monastery of Aþverá in Thingeyrar , Northern Iceland....
in which the Icelandic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson writes that north from Värmland
Värmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...
there are "two Kvenlands (Kvenlönd), which extend to north of Bjarmia (Bjarmalandi)".
Bjarmian trade reached south-east to Bulgar
Bolghar
Bolghar was intermittently capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan...
by the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
where the Bjarmians also interacted with Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
ns and Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...
ns, who adventured southbound from the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
area.
Identification
The name Bjarmaland appears in old NorseNorsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
literature, possible for the area where Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
is presently situated, and where it was preceded by a Bjarmian settlement. The first appearance of the name is in the Voyage of Ohthere, which was undertaken ca 890. According to Ohthere, it was the first Scandinavian voyage to the Bjarmians, but this information is not reliable.
The name Permian
Komi peoples
The Komi people is an ethnic group whose homeland is in the north-east of European Russia around the basins of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama rivers. They mostly live in the Komi Republic, Perm Krai, Murmansk Oblast, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Russian...
is found in the oldest Rus', Nestor's Chronicle (1000–1100). The names of other Uralic tribes are also listed including Veps, Cheremis, Mordvin, and Chudes.
The place-name was also used later both by the German historian Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
(11th century) and the Icelander Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
(1179–1241) in Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, reporting about its rivers flowing out to Gandvik
Gandvik
In Norse mythology, Gandvik is a dangerous sea, known as 'Bay of Serpents' because of its tortuous shape. Saxo Grammaticus stated that Gandvik was an old name for the Baltic Sea . The legend presumably refers to Gulf of Bothnia...
. It's not clear if they reference the same Bjarmaland as was mentioned in the Voyage of Ohthere, however. The Bjarmian god Jomali is Finnic
Finnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
but the description of the god is more Siberian. Especially the crown adorned with twelve stars in gold is characteristic to Siberian shaman caps.
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He was reported as born in October 1490 in Östergötland, and died on August 1, 1557. Magnus, Latin for the Swedish Stor “great”, is a Latin family name taken personally, and not a...
located Bjarmaland in the Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
, while Johannes Schefferus
Johannes Schefferus
Johannes Schefferus was one of the most important Swedish humanists of his time.Schefferus was born in Strasbourg, then part of the Holy Roman Empire...
(1621–1679) argued it was equal to Lappland
Lappmarken
Lappmarken was an earlier Swedish name for the northern part of the old Kingdom of Sweden specifically inhabited by the Sami people. In addition to the present-day Swedish Lapland, it also covered Västerbotten, Jämtland and Härjedalen, as well as the Finnish Lapland. As a name, it is related to...
.
Early contacts
Norwegians
Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...
merchant Ottar
Ottar from Hålogaland
Ohthere of Hålogaland was a Viking adventurer from Hålogaland. Around 890 AD he travelled to England, where Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, had his tales written down....
(Ohthere) reported to king Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
that he had sailed for several days along the northern coast and then southwards, finally arriving at a great river, probably the Northern Dvina
Northern Dvina
The Northern Dvina is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River to the east, it drains most of Northwest Russia into the Arctic Ocean...
. At the estuary of the river dwelt the Beormas, who unlike the nomadic Sami people
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
s were sedentary, and their land was rich and populous. Ohthere did not know their language but he said that it resembled the language of the Sami people
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
. The Bjarmians told Ohthere about their country and other countries that bordered it.
Later several expeditions were undertaken from Norway to Bjarmaland. In 920, Eirik Bloodaxe made a Viking expedition, as well as Harald II of Norway
Harald II of Norway
Harald II Greycloak was a king of Norway.Harald Greycloak was the son of Eirik Bloodaxe and a grandson of Harald Fairhair...
and Haakon Magnusson of Norway
Haakon Magnusson of Norway
Haakon Magnusson was king of Norway from 1093 until 1094. Haakon was only partially recognized within Norway and his reign was thus of limited significance. He has been generally not been counted in the numbered series of Norwegian kings...
, in 1090.
The best known expedition was that of Tore Hund
Tore Hund
right|thumb|Tore HundTore Hund was one of the greatest chiefs in Hålogaland. Tore Hund was one of the leaders of the Stiklestad peasant faction opposing Norwegian King Olaf II of Norway. Tore was reported to have been among the chieftains who killed Norway's Patron Saint in the Battle of...
(Tore Dog) who together with some friends, arrived in Bjarmaland in 1026. They started to trade with the inhabitants and bought a great many pelts, whereupon they pretended to leave. Later, they made shore in secret, and plundered the burial site, where the Bjarmians had erected an idol of their god Jomali. This god had a bowl containing silver on his knees, and a valuable chain around his neck. Tore and his men managed to escape from the pursuing Bjarmians with their rich booty.
Background
Permians
The Permians are a branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples and include Komis and Udmurts, speakers of Permic languages. Formerly the name Bjarmians was also used to describe these peoples...
was due to their profitable trade along the Dvina
Dvina
Dvina may refer to:* Daugava river, also known as "Western Dvina", a river in Russia, Belarus, and Latvia.* Northern Dvina, a river in northern Russia.* R-12 Dvina, a theatre ballistic missile from the Soviet Union....
, the Kama River
Kama River
Kama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
and the Volga to Bolghar
Bolghar
Bolghar was intermittently capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan...
and other trading settlements in the south. Along this route, silver coins and other merchandise were exchanged for pelts and walrus tusks brought by the Bjarmians. In fact, burial sites in modern Perm Krai
Perm Krai
Perm Krai is a federal subject of Russia that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 referendum on the merger of Perm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug. The city of Perm became the administrative center of the new federal subject...
are the richest source of Sasanian
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
and Sogdian
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
silverware from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Further north, the Bjarmians traded with the Sami.
It seems that the Scandinavians made some use of the Dvina trade route, in addition to the Volga trade route
Volga trade route
In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, sometimes penetrating as far as Baghdad...
and Dnieper trade route. In 1217, two Norwegian traders arrived in Bjarmaland to buy pelts; one of the traders continued further south to pass to Russia in order to arrive in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, where he intended to take part in the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. The second trader who remained was, however, killed by the Bjarmians. This caused Norwegian officials to undertake a campaign of retribution into Bjarmaland which they pillaged in 1222.
The 13th century seems to have seen the decline of the Bjarmians, who became tributaries of the Novgorod Republic
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
. While many Slavs fled the Mongol invasion northward, to Beloozero and Bjarmaland, the displaced Bjarmians sought refuge in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, where they were given land in Malangen
Malangen
Malangen is a fjord and a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The fjord is located between the islands of Kvaløya and Senja and the area today is divided between the municipalities of Balsfjord, Lenvik, Tromsø, and Målselv...
, by Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
, in 1240. More important for the decline was probably that, with the onset of the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, the trade routes had found a more westerly orientation or shifted considerably to the south.
When the Novgorodians founded Velikiy Ustiug, in the beginning of the 13th century, the Bjarmians had a serious competitor for the trade. More and more Pomors
Pomors
Pomors or Pomory are Russian settlers and their descendants on the White Sea coast. It is also term of self-identification for the descendants of Russian, primarily Novgorod, settlers of Pomorye , living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a watershed which...
arrived in the area during the 14th and 15th centuries, which led to the final subjugation and assimilation of the Bjarmians by the Slavs.
See also
- Ohthere of Hålogaland
- Gardariki
- Miklagard
- VinlandVinlandVinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
- SerklandSerklandIn Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones, Særkland or Serkland was the name of the Abbasid Caliphate and probably some neighbouring Muslim regions....
- SkrælingSkrælingSkræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...