Austmarr

The 7th Austmarr Symposium

Tartu 1–3 December 2017

Problems, challenges and solutions

What happens when scholars cross the disciplinary borders? What problems are there when a scholar uses the material from one discipline to interpret the material from an entirely different one, and how should the problems be solved? Interdisciplinarity is a prestige word in the academic world. In practice, it has turned out to be more problematic. Material, methods and research issues are often of very different kinds in different disciplines.

This is well-known in research on the Viking Age. In the textually orientated research, among philologists and historians of literature, many scholars have a skeptical attitude towards the use of written sources – often considerably later Icelandic texts – by archaeologists and historians of religion. Text scholars often think they do quite well without the material and findings of other disciplines and claim the written sources speak for themselves. Archaeologists tend to be more open towards crossing the disciplinary borders and towards using written sources in their interpretation – classical examples are the role of the Icelandic Vínland sagas in the interpretation of the finds in L’Anse aux Meadows and the role of Adam of Bremen’s chronicle in the interpretation of the finds in Gamla Uppsala. Historians of religion often use literary sources from different periods as well as archaeological material and later folklore in their reconstructions of pre-Christian belief and cult. Linguists often discuss etymologies in terms of language contacts and place names in terms of distribution without situating them in relation to other aspects of culture. There has also been a recent revival of interest in post-medieval folklore into discussion of the Viking Age, both by representatives of the already mentioned disciplines and also by folklorists. A concentrated methodological discussion is much needed on linking this wide range of research and bringing it into harmony, as well as connecting and uniting research done on different Austmarr cultures – different cultures of the Baltic Sea region.

The 7th Austmarr symposium is devoted to the challenges of interdisciplinarity and the combination of different kinds of material. A main aim of the symposium is to promote a better understanding and more fruitful communication between disciplines which share common interests and concerns. There will be 28 papers presented at the symposium, as well as two special sessions.

Special sessions

Female Viking Warriors – Archaeological Evidence and Written Sources

The necessity of interdisciplinary studies has recently been stressed by several scholars in the debate about the historicity of female Viking warrior leaders, as a result of a brand new article on a grave in Birka. Should the fact that a woman is buried with weapons and other grave-goods usually connected with warfare in itself be interpreted as a proof of the existence of female war leaders, or is it, as some critical voices have claimed, equally necessary to use written sources for the interpretation, and, if so, what source value do the different written sources have? This ongoing debate is a good example of the importance of the theme of the 7th Austmarr symposium.

The Salme Boat Burials

Another topical issue which underscores the importance of the symposium theme is the Salme finds. Is it possible to connect these remains of a failed Swedish military campaign to Saaremaa in the 8th century with Viking age Old Norse poetry mentioning a failed Swedish campaign to Saaremaa some hundred years ago? Could such a combination be used for the interpretation of the finds? The particular topic of the Salme finds will be discussed at a separate session during the 7th Austmarr symposium, where the group behind the excavations (Jüri Peets, Marge Konsa et al.) will present the finds and their interpretation of them and open for a broad interdisciplinary discussion with the symposium participants.

Keynote lectures

Anne-Sofie Gräslund: Interdisciplinarity - the hardships of an archaelogist, from the 1970s and onwards.

Henrik Janson, University of Gothenburg: Old Norse Religion and the Troublesome Quest for an Interdisciplinary Approach.

Jens Peter Schjødt, University of Aarhus: Óðinn – the pervert?

05.–06.12.2016 6th Austmarr Symposium in Helsinki „Religion – Language – Practice“ with a Workshop on Late Iron Age Mortuary Behaviours

15.–16.10.2015 5th Austmarr Symposium in Visby „No one is an island: Islands in the Baltic Sea 500 - 1500 AD“

Characteristics and networks in an interdisciplinary perspective

The fifth annual meeting of the Austmarr Network was held on October 15-16, 2015, at the Gotland museum in Visby, Sweden, sponsored by the National Board of Antiquities and the Gotland Museum with funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The organizers were Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt (Swedish National Heritage Board, Visby) and Per Widerström (Gotland Museum, Visby).

The theme of the meeting was "No one is an island: Islands in the Baltic Sea 500 - 1500 AD. Characteristics and networks in an interdisciplinary perspective." As Michael Meichsner (University of Greifswald) put it in his talk, this perspective involves "taking the island thing seriously"; he cited Baldacchino's (2004: 278) observation that "Islands do not merely reproduce on a manageable scale the dynamics and processes that exist elsewhere. Islandness is an intervening variable that does not determine, but contours and conditions physical and social events in distinct, and distinctly relevant ways." (Baldacchino 2004: 278) The island theme brought together the different contributions in a discussion of what is "special" about the island communities in the Baltic Sea. The conference had a stronger archaeological emphasis than previous Austmarr seminars and a center of gravity in Sweden and especially Gotland.

The early arrivals met on Wednesday evening, October 14, for socialization at the Black Sheep Arms restaurant. On Thursday morning, following a welcoming address by Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt and Per Widerström, the seminar began with Alexander Podossinov's (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) report on "Islands in the Baltic as reflected in ancient literature from Homer to Jordanes." Ancient writings mention a number of islands in the Northern Ocean, of which the Baltic was viewed as a part. In his voyage in the Northern Ocean, Odysseus passes three islands, featuring giant man-eaters and an entrance to Hades. The island of Thule, discovered by Pytheus in the 3rd c. B.C., was identified with various northern locations by medieval scholars. Hecataeus from Abdera in the 3rd c. BC mentions islands Elixoia "beyond Celtica" and Scanza. The belief that Scandinavia was an island, rather than a peninsula, persisted until Adam of Bremen in the 11th c. A.D. Numerous other islands in the Baltic are mentioned by ancient Roman writers.

Tatjana Jackson (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) spoke on "Danish islands in Knýtlinga saga," explaining why the saga refers to the journey from Jutland to Fyn and Sjælland as travel north rather than east. The rotated frame of reference places the regions of Denmark in the Norse world-view which divided the world into regions; directional terms refer to travel toward those regions. This "rotated" frame of reference is not seen in other texts such as Heimskringla which were among the sources for Knýtlinga saga. However, it is seen in King Alfred's additions to his translation of Orosius and may be reflected in other Anglo-Saxon texts. The "shifted" orientation scheme appears to be more original and is preserved in Knýtlinga saga from oral tradition.

Maths Bertell (Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall) discussed "Viking Age Föglö - a travel route and its population." Föglö, a collection of islands in shallow water in the outer Åland archipelago, is among the first place names in Åland mentioned in medieval sources (in Valdemar Sejr's 13th c. itinerary), although it was not a power center and lacks significant early landmarks, unlike Lemböte and Kökar, also mentioned in the itinerary. The area lies along travel routes but would be difficult to navigate without a local guide. This part of the Åland archipelago has been little studied in relation to the Viking Age, although there are remains from the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Åland in general suffers from a lack of funding for and interest in Viking Age archaeology.

Sven Kalmring's (Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, Schleswig) paper "Islands in the rural sea - Viking-age towns between cosmopolitanism and delimitation" discussed the status of the few towns (Hedeby, Ribe, Birka, and Kaupang) that developed in Viking-Age Scandinavia. He emphasized that towns were highly exceptional in the Viking Age; most of society was rural and agrarian. The few Viking towns functioned as conceptual "islands" where different rules applied than elsewhere. Market areas were physically differentiated from the surrounding territory and were protected by rulers so that merchants would not be subject to the dangers which attended most strangers.

Merili Metsvahi (University of Tartu) discussed "The legend about the brother-sister-marriage connected with the lake Kaali in Saaremaa." This lake in the middle of the island Saaremaa was caused by a meteorite landing around 400 BCE; it has been speculated that the event led to later stories about flying dragons. According to the legend under discussion here, after a wedding between siblings was performed at a manor house, the house sank into the ground and the lake appeared in its place. The same legend is associated with other Estonian lakes, including Valgjärv, where Viking Age remains can be seen under the shallow water on calm days. The legend reflects the interface between the pre-Christian matrilineal structure of Estonian society and the patrilineal Baltic Germans. Sibling marriage is a stronger taboo in matrilineal societies, whereas in patrilineal ones, father-daughter incest is a more prevalent concern. The Baltic Germans who comprised the ruling class had a stronger taboo against marrying the lower-class peasants than their own relatives; because they were a small community, sometimes cousin marriages occurred. Metsvahi argues that this legend showing supernatural punishment for violation of incest taboos reflects the Estonian peasants' view of the Baltic Germans.

Michael Meichsner's (University of Greifswald) "A force from the outside: Gotland and the political networks in the Baltic Sea Region in the 15th century" discusses political changes in Gotland at the end of the Middle Ages. Whereas islands are now viewed as peripheries of remote centers, in medieval times Gotland connected and constituted the maritime space. It was strategically important in the Kalmar Union. Gotland in the Middle Ages had had no native nobility or local elites. In 1407-1408, the Teutonic Knights handed over Gotland to Eric of Pomerania, who visited the island personally and introduced external controls of a type that had not been known there before. Visby was allowed to maintain its traditional privileges but had an obligation for mutual support. Peasants (i.e. rich farmers) were allowed to trade outside Visby and had an obligation to supply the king and castle. New taxes were introduced. Five noblemen controlled Visborg and Gotland in the 15th c. That century was a time of centralization and increased administrative control. By the end of the 15th c. Jens Holgersen controlled the harbors and trade and Gotland became a more "normal" part of the integrated kingdom.

The first day concluded with a runic section. Lisbeth Imer (National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen) discussed "The rune stone tradition on Bornholm." Roughly 260 runestones are known from Bornholm, dating from the 8th through the 11th c. Runestones appear later there than elsewhere in Denmark, with 40 stones dating from the 11th and 12th c., while no Bornholm runestones have been found contemporary with the "post-conversion runestone boom" (970-1020 A.D.) in Jutland and Skåne. Swedish practices may have provided a model for ornamentation in Bornholm runestones. Runic coins and lead amulets are also a prominent part of the Bornholm runic tradition.

Continuing from Imer's presentation, Magnus Källström's (Swedish National Heritage Board, Visby) talk "Alike or not alike? The writing traditions on Viking Age rune-stones from Öland, Gotland and Bornholm" presented insular runic traditions in a comparative perspective. Traditionally these runic traditions have been compared to those of neighboring mainland areas rather than to each other. A comparison does not reveal strong patterns shared among all the islands vis-à-vis the mainland, but there are some pairwise similarities in which two of the islands pattern together.

Thursday evening concluded with a dinner at Packhuskällaren near the museum. The Friday morning session focused on Gotland. Early risers were given a tour of the Gotland Museum exhibitions by Per Widerström (Gotland Museum, Visby). Per then presented on "Archaeology on Gotland: Odin and the mask from Hellvi." A 2nd c. Roman cavalry mask helmet representing Alexander the Great was reworked as a mask with one bright reflective eye and one dark eye, apparently part of a pattern of "Odinic" one-eyed masks and figures seen inter alia in the Sutton Hoo helmet (Price & Mortimer 2014). The altered mask appears to have been mounted to a post over a cupboard full of drinking equipment in a Viking Age house at Hellvi in Gotland.

Antje Wendt (National Historical Museum, Stockholm) spoke about "Viking Age gold rings on Gotland." While silver hoards represented "bank accounts," accumulations of means of payment from trade or plunder that could end up buried for religious reasons or because forgotten after the death of the owner, gold hoards were specific-purpose money without commercial functions and pattern quite differently in archaeological finds. Rings had religious functions related to "Odin's law," temple hoards, and oaths. Gold rings functioned as a symbol of the relationship between a chieftain and his retainers or between allies in a gift society. Gold rings appear to have functioned frequently as gifts, as seen in literary sources. Their design followed that of silver rings.

Ny Björn Gustafsson (Visby) spoke about "In sight or out of reach? - On the production of Gotlandic and non-Gotlandic dress jewellery at Stora Karlsö in the Viking Period." The site on Stora Karlsö, off the coast of Gotland, called "Stora Förvar" ('the big holding'), a cave partially excavated in the early 20th c., contains rich cultural deposits dating over a 6000-7000 year period. This is the only location on Gotland at which molds were found for making both characteristic Gotlandic and non-Gotlandic jewelry. The "special" status of Stora Karlsö (an island off the coast of an island) as not belonging either to the Swedish or to the Gotlandic mainland made possible types of production geared toward both markets.

The final session of the conference was devoted to ongoing and future projects. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson (Stockholm University) described her involvement in a large interdisciplinary project, in a presentation entitled "Introducing the ATLAS-project: Late Iron Age and Early Medieval mobility around the Baltic reflected through archaeology, aDNA and isotopes." Rapid advances in genetic sequencing techniques have enabled sequencing of ancient genetic material (aDNA) which was not possible a few years ago. In this collaboration, the archaeologists help to choose materials to sample (e.g. individuals to sequence) and ask why they are interesting. Is there a match or mismatch between genetic heritage and displayed "ethnic" identity in a burial find? Between biological sex and displayed gender? Genetic and osteological analysis may, for instance, help to resolve whether the individuals in anomalous inhumation burials may have been foreigners or unfree. Genes reveal people's heritage, population migrations, and sex. Isotope analysis of bones reveals "how you use your body" - diet, geographical context, stress, illness, injury, mobility. Burial archaeology tells what happened when a person died. None of these types of data by itself provides "the answer" to ancient people's identities, but combining different techniques and new technologies makes it possible to explore different pieces of the puzzle.

Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt (Swedish National Heritage Board, Visby) presented "Relations between the islands of Austmarr - a research proposal." The project would compare the runic traditions of Gotland, Öland, and Bornholm. This project would involve "interdisciplinary study of runic inscriptions," involving archaeological perspectives and new forms of technical analysis as well as text-based runology. Several of the contributors had recently taken a field trip to examine the Bornholm inscriptions. The presentations by Imer and Källström at this seminar represented a pilot study for the proposed project.

Finally, Maths Bertell (Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall) and Kendra Willson (University of Turku) discussed the "Future of Austmarr network," tracing the history and goals of the network. The network has held conferences annually since 2010. An edited volume based on selected contributions to the first three seminars is well underway, to be followed by grant applications and further books.

The Austmarr network is an international, interdisciplinary network of scholars interested in cultural contacts and developments in the circum-Baltic region in prehistoric and early historic times. We aim to overcome the traditional barriers among different disciplines interested in reconstructing the past (including history, history of religion, archaeology, folklore, linguistics and philology) and between the national traditions in each of those disciplines in reconstructing the crucial role of contacts in shaping the modern ethnic identities (Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Finnic, and Sámi) found around the Baltic.

References:

Baldacchino, Godfrey 2004. The coming of age of island-studies. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 95(3): 272-283.

Price, Neil, & Paul Mortimer 2014. An eye for Odin? Divine role-playing in the age of Sutton Hoo. European Journal of Archaeology 17(3): 517-538.

Reproduced from Kendra Willson's conference report from Austmarr's home page. https://www.austmarr.org/visbyreport.html

04.–05.12.2014 4th Austmarr Symposium in Sundsvall „The plurality of religions and religious change around the Baltic Sea, 500-1300“

Methodological challenges for multidisciplinary data

The Austmarr Network welcomes you to participate in the fourth network workshop. This workshop focuses on the methodological challenges of working with data from different disciplines in reconstructing religious practices and change. These issues will be examined in the context of the different religions and changes in religion in the circum-Baltic area from the late Iron Age to the medieval period.

05.–06.04.2013 3rd Austmarr Symposium in Härnösand „Historical infrastructure of the Baltic Sea“

The third meeting of the Austmarr Network continued and developed the interdisciplinary discussions of the meetings in previous years. For the third meeting, “Historical Infrastructure of the Baltic Sea: Ways, Reason and Consequences”, the Austmarr Network crossed to the western side of the Baltic Sea to Mid-Sweden University. Once again, the event brought together international scholars to discuss research projects and other studies in a multidisciplinary environment. The model for paper presentation and discussion followed the workshop model developed by the Viking Age in Finland project: 20 minutes for papers and 40 minutes for discussion (see Aalto 2011). Maths Bertell (Mid-Sweden University) did an excellent job organizing the event and making sure that everything ran smoothly. The event was made possible thanks to the support of Mid-Sweden University.

Lauri Harvilahti (Finnish Literature Society) was the first keynote speaker of the conference on Friday morning. Harvilahti’s paper was titled “Ethnocultural Poetics, Etymologies and Mythical Models: Pre-1500 Contacts around the Baltic Sea” and he spoke of the impact of National Romanticism on the study of ‘Teutonic’ peoples and how this area of study has directed academic studies. Instead of looking for something unique and original for each culture and people, Harvilahti emphasized the need to look at sources that describe contact between folk belief and Christianity as presentations of the continuous interplay of coexisting syncretistic traditions which go back to interactions between different folk beliefs around the Baltic Sea.

Kendra Willson (University of California, Los Angeles / University of Helsinki) kept up the lively discussion with her presentation “Ahti in Nydam?”. Willson spoke about some runic inscriptions in Elder Futhark discovered at the Nydam bog site in the southwestern corner of Jutland. A bronze strap ring dated to ca. 300 A.D. bears the inscription harkilaz•ahti and a silver belt-tip dated to ca. 400 A.D. bears the inscription rawsijo. Willson argued that despite the search for the Finno-Estonian origin of these words, it seems more likely that they are Germanic words and personal names. The Finnish names Ahti, Rausio and Harkkila seem to be far-fetched interpretations.

Karolina Kouvola (University of Helsinki) then offered the paper “How and Why Should Kalevalaic Epic Poetry and Old Norse Poetry Be Compared?”, in which she surveyed the possibility of the knowledge-based tietäjä tradition’s background in an Old Norse tradition of Óðinn. Kouvola focused on the methodological challenges of comparing traditions represented in two very different types of sources separated by a period of centuries.

After lunch it was time for the second keynote lecture, “Finno-Ugric and Scandinavian Notions about the World Axis and the Cosmic Quern” by Eldar Heide (University of Bergen). As the title promised, this paper discussed the concept of the magic hand mills Grotti (of Grottasǫngr) and the sampo of Finnic rune songs. Heide considered the connection these mills have to the world axis or world pillar motif. Heide drew attention to the Icelandic word hjarastjarna as implying the existence of a world pillar in Scandinavian sources. According to this interpretation, the eddic poem Grottasǫngr would have cosmic significance connected to this worldview.

Alexander Podossinov (University of Moscow) presented his paper, “The Northern Part of the Ocean in the Eyes of Ancient Geographers”, on notions concerning the northern portion of the Ocean in the works of authors in antiquity. These authors understood that the whole inhabited world was encircled by an ocean. The eastern and especially the northern parts of this ocean remained unknown. Podossinov’s paper was an interesting addition to themes handled by the Austmarr Network, expanding its geographical borders.

Tatjana N. Jackson’s (Russian Academy of Sciences) paper, “Austmarr on the ‘Mental Map’ of Medieval Scandinavians”, focused on the mental geography represented in medieval Scandinavian sources. According to these sources, the world was understood to consist of four quarters: eastern, southern, western and northern. The paper concentrated on the eastern quarter, which consisted of the Baltic lands and the territories beyond the Baltic Sea. In the sagas, the directions change according to where the center was thought to be. This explains why in some cases the protagonist makes journeys which in reality cannot be made as they are described in the saga. Jackson highlighted that this was not because the author was ‘wrong’; it was because the author was evaluating directions from a particular point of view that did not always subscribe to the same concept of ‘center’.

The final keynote speaker of the day was Wladyslaw Duczko (University of Uppsala) with his paper “Scandinavians of the Viking Age on the Southern Coast of the Baltic and in Eastern Europe: Approaching Problems of Identification”. This fascinating paper addressed the regional identification of settlers of the Pomerian and Curland coasts. This identification seems to imply that these settlers came from Scandinavia. Duczko outlined archaeological evidence showing a continuity of Scandinavian settlers along the coastline, enhancing our understanding of cultures in the region.

One of the key elements of the Austmarr Network has been its ability to gather scholars from different fields together to discuss their work and exchange ideas. The day’s papers provided a fine background for lively interdisciplinary discussion, discussion which continued through dinner at St. Peter Logen. All were looking forward to the second day’s papers.

The second day started with a keynote presentation by Kristel Zilmer’s (University of Bergen), “The Sea of Contact: The Baltic Sea and Its Narrative Representation in Old Norse Sources”. The narrative sources, such as the sagas, tell of well-established sea routes. Zilmer spoke interestingly about how by studying geographical details one can better understand routes described in saga 75 sources and ways in which these routes could have been navigated. Jackson’s paper emphasized the importance of Baltic sea routes and made the geographic descriptions of the sagas more comprehensible.

In her paper, “Runestones on Gotland and the Swedish mainland”, Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt (Swedish National Heritage Board / University of Stockholm) introduced 3Dscanning as a method for analyzing the carving technique of runestones. This technique helps to identify individual carvers and to understand the development of the carving of runestones as practice. Kitzler Åhfeldt uses 3D scanning as a method in her postdoctoral research project, “The Dynamics of Rune Carving: Relation between Rune Carvers in a Regional and Chronological Perspective”.

Marge Konsa (University of Tartu) then presented the keynote paper “Violent Contacts: Maritime Warfare in Pre-Viking Age”, in which she presented information about the extremely interesting Salme I and Salme II excavations on Saaremaa island, Estonia. In these excavations, two boat burials with altogether at least 40 men were found. The origins and background of the burial remains obscure, yet it bears some potential resemblance to the account of the raid of the Swedish king Ingvar, as told in the Ynglinga saga.

After lunch, Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson (National Historical Museums, Sweden) gave the paper “Alliances across the Baltic: Sword Chapes as Indicators of Military and Political Alliances in the Baltic Region”. Jonson’s presentation centered around two distribution patterns of chapes: the first, a stylized falcon, and the second, an anthropomorphic figure parallel to the image of Christ on the Jelling stone. The stylized falcon image has been interpreted as the mark of a military group associated with movement around the Baltic Sea region. Although they have been found across a more extensive geographic area than the falcon symbol, the anthropomorphic image has been interpreted as a symbol of the rank of officer of the Danish court.

Sirpa Aalto’s (University of Oulu) paper “Changing Alliances: Jómsvikings, Danes and Wends” focused on Jómsvikinga saga. Even though the saga might have a historical core, it should not be forgotten that the saga is also a literary work. Jómsvikinga saga portrays a wider shift of independent chieftains and supra-regional elite networks into parts of royal hirðs of the kings. The Jómsvikings could have been any mercenary group which had settled on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Aalto emphasized that even though the saga is not an account of any authentic political situation, the events it describes may reflect general social changes that took place historically.

Leszek Słupecki (University of Rzeszów) followed with the paper “Polish Noble Families and Noble Men of Scandinavian Origin in the 11th –12th Century: The Case of Awdancy Family: By Which Ways They Did Come, Why, and What Consequences It Caused?”. Słupecki surveyed the origins of the Polish noble family Awdancy and how this family arrived in Poland from Scandinavia. The use of the name Magnus/Michael, which was popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and 12th centuries, implies a Scandinavian background. It appears that the Awdancy family was only one of 30 powerful Polish noble families with a Scandinavian background – offering a fascinating area of investigation.

The final paper of the meeting was “The Baltic Sea and the Northern Crusades: A Case Study and Main Problems” presented by Remigiusz Gogosz (University of Rzeszów). The familiarity of the Baltic region made it more appealing to crusaders from northern kingdoms than those of the Mediterranean Sea. A bull given by pope Eugenius in 1147 made the crusaders on the Baltic Sea equal to those on the Mediterranean. As an outcome of 76 these crusades, the eastern and western parts of the Baltic region developed closer ties. In turn, this provided essential conditions for the development of the Hansa trade networks a few centuries later.

The third Austmarr Network meeting offered a unique meeting place for scholars and a chance to discuss the Viking Age and medieval Baltic area with colleagues from different institutes and countries.

08.–10.06.2012 2nd Austmarr Smyposium in Helsinki „Transcultural Contacts in the Circum-Baltic Area“

The second meeting of the Austmarr Network was organized by Folklore Studies, Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies and the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies of the University of Helsinki. It took place over the course of two days (with a cultural program on the third) at the Metsätalo building of the University of Helsinki. In comparison with the previous meeting in Tartu in the spring of 2011 (see Kuldkepp 2011: 43–44), this was a different event in several ways. The number of presentations had almost doubled, the concept of hour- length keynote lectures was introduced and – last but not least – generous financing had been bestowed upon it by University of Helsinki. However, the essence and function of the network meeting was nevertheless the same: to bring together philologists, folklorists, historians and archaeologists who are interested in transdisciplinary perspectives on pre-modern Circum-Baltic issues, and who find it valuable to learn from each other, leading to a dialogue with colleagues in related fields of study. Thanks to the tireless organizing efforts of Frog (University of Helsinki) and Janne Saarikivi (University of Helsinki), both of these aims were accomplished spectacularly. If the second meeting of the Austmarr Network is any indication, further broadening and intensification of the Network’s activities can certainly be expected in the future.

The first day of the meeting was devoted entirely to keynote lectures, each of which explored some problems inherent in combining different kinds of sources (e.g. literary, archaeological and folkloristic) for the purpose of developing more holistic perspectives on particular objects of study. Academician Anna-Leena Siikala (University of Helsinki) spoke about “Baltic-Finnic Mythological Poetry: Dialects, Layers and Significance”. Siikala introduced the idea of “dialects” of mythic poetry, which means that oral mythology is something akin to oral language: ever-changing, intertextual, highly context-based, and regionally variable. In order to properly analyze mythic narratives, they have to be approached as a cultural discourse, taking into account all relevant contexts, genres, performance methods, poetics, content and meanings of texts. However, in spite of this apparent instability, a broader perspective reveals that discourses of mythological poetry still form relatively consistent wholes, “the poetic cultures”, that can be related to each other and to other historical processes.

The second keynote lecture was given jointly by Professor of Archaeology Mika Lavento (University of Helsinki) and Professor of Finno-Ugric Linguistics Janne Saarikivi (University of Helsinki). Their lecture was titled “The Reconstruction of Past Populations and Their Networks: Considerations Regarding Interdisciplinary Research on Linguistic and Archaeological Material”. Lavento and Saarinen focused on ways that linguistic and archaeological methods and data could be combined in ethnogenetic research without accidentally misrepresenting either field of study. As an example of how this might be done, they presented their joint research project “Early Networking in Northern Fennoscandia”. This project correlated toponymic and archeological data with reference to pre- historic Sámi-speaking language groups. Although the step from areal synthesis to establishing wider correlations is a difficult one to take, it is nevertheless possible to do so on the levels of local areas, communities and networks of communities, finding different types of connections between linguistic and material features of the reconstructed culture.

Professor of Scandinavian Studies Daniel Sävborg (University of Tartu) held the third of the first day’s keynote lectures, “King Ingvar’s Campaign: The Old Norse Sources and the Salme Findings”. There, Sävborg raised the question of whether and how the large Iron Age ship burial site recently excavated at Salme, Saaremaa (northeast Estonia), could be related to the sparse, yet significant Old Norse sources on the campaign of King Ingvar of Sweden to the same region, which, to the best of our knowledge, can be dated to the same period as the archaeological site (8th century). Although it is obviously difficult to say anything conclusive about the connection to Ingvar in particular, the Salme findings nevertheless demonstrate that such voyages and battles could and did take place, leaving open the possibility that medieval literary accounts of pre-historical Circum-Baltic contacts might be more reliable than is often thought by source- critical scholars.

The second day of the conference opened with Professor of History Jukka Korpela’s (University of Eastern Finland) presentation on “Baptized and Un-Baptized nemcis in 16th Century Muscovite Society”. Korpela introduced a part of a larger project investigating slave trade in Eastern Europe and the Near East. Focus was on the trade of so-called nemci slaves in Muscovy. These were a luxury item primarily imported from Northern Europe and often specifically blind women. He showed that the idea of baptism played an integrative role in the development of the centrally-controlled Muscovite state to which nemci were foreign.

Mart Kuldkepp (University of Tartu) introduced a prospective research project in a presentation on “Distance as a Heuristic Concept in the Study of Old Norse Literature”. Kuldkepp presented some ideas about how literary geography could be used to approach Old Norse literature from fresh angles by giving it anchoring points in the extra-textual reality of landscapes. For example, depictions of travel over physical distance might be correlated with the occurrence of supernatural motifs, telling us not only about Old Norse literature, but also about the broader imagination of the culture that produced it.

Mervi Suhonen (University of Helsinki) held a presentation on “Archaeological Research on Late Iron Age and Medieval Sites and Landscapes in Southern Finland: What Are We Currently Learning?”. Suhonen provided an overview of the kinds of research done in that field, what kind of facts are being gathered and in what kinds of frameworks these are being conceptualized. Like many others, she stressed the importance of communication between researchers and different disciplines, something that is hard to achieve not only due to intellectual, but also to institutional constraints.

Ilkka Leskinen (University of Helsinki) presented his PhD project “Sweden, Hansa and Core-Periphery Networks in the Late Medieval Baltic Sea Region”, concerned with delineating interpersonal networks between Hansa merchants across the whole Baltic Sea region during the Late Middle Ages. Even though Finland and Sweden belonged to the periphery of the Hanseatic world (centered on the great towns of Northern Germany), the merchants stationed there nevertheless had remarkable international connections reaching even beyond Northern Europe, as witnessed by their correspondence with each other.

Ante Aikio (University of Oulu) gave a paper on “The Interaction of Proto-Norse and Proto-Saami Communities: Reconstructing a Prehistoric Trade Network” about the possibility of using loan words from Proto- Norse into Proto-Saami in order to draw conclusions about pre-historic cultural contacts between these language groups. As the absolute chronology of linguistic innovations in Scandinavian can be established thanks to runic material, it is possible to determine with some accuracy the time when different Scandinavian words must have been borrowed into different Sámi languages. This provides fascinating information about both the chronology and possibly also the nature of the contacts that facilitated the borrowing.

After lunch, the day continued with Mikko Bentlin’s (Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald) presentation titled “Traces of Low German Influence on Finnish in the Middle Ages” concerned with the possibility of finding independent Low German loanwords (not Swedish-mediated) in Finnish. There are indeed some phonetic, semantic and distributional criteria that make it possible to determine that certain words must have come directly from Low German. By looking at what kinds of words were borrowed and where, new perspectives are opened on Medieval cross-cultural contacts in the Baltic Sea area as well as on the history of both languages.

Next, Kendra Willson’s (University of California) paper titled “Prosodic Typology and Metrical Borrowing” looked at the borrowing of Knittelvers-meters into Late Medieval poetic cultures around the Baltic Sea, displacing earlier alliterative meters in the process. It is possible that the popularity of these new, end-rhymed meters, based on the ideas of a constant number of stressed syllables, could be responsible for the syllable re-structuring in Finnish dialects that is usually attributed to Germanic influences, whereas the new consonant clusters and foreign phonemes borrowed were partially incompatible with the old alliteration system and probably also contributed to the decline of alliterative poetry.

Maths Bertell’s (Mid-Sweden University) presentation on “Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Myth in the Light of a Possible Comparative Retrospective Method” discussed some conceptual problems inherent in using retrospective methods for investigations in comparative mythology – it is easy to come across as superficial, to focus on similarities, but not differences, and to draw false conclusions from instances of analogy. Using the fire-striking Hrungnir myth as an example, Bertell suggested that the lesson to take away from his presentation would be to avoid using retrospective methods for the purpose of filling in blanks in our knowledge about a culture’s mythology.

Karolina Kouvola (University of Helsinki) introduced her PhD thesis project in a presentation titled “Warriorhood and Supernatural Beings”. Kouvola’s research focuses on the representations of warriors in Old Norse context in comparison with parallel cultures. She focused particularly on comparing Odin and Väinämöinen and the similar roles they play as mysterious, elitist instigators of battle and protectors of warriors who often seem to be caught in an almost supernatural frenzy, perhaps using some kind of shamanistic techniques. She intends to draw further parallels with the Celtic culture and its warrior heroes.

The last presentation was given by Frog (University of Helsinki). It was titled "'Relevant Indicators': A Cross-Disciplinary Indexing Tool? – Examples from Mythological Thinking” and tackled the issue that in some form or another was essential to nearly every previous presentation, namely: how to critically and fruitfully relate data from different disciplines. To that end, Frog proposed the creation of a digital database with an indexing tool that would make it possible to navigate and correlate different “relevant indicators” in data from different fields. The purposefully all-encompassing term of “relevant indicator” would allow different kinds of data to be tagged as significant in multiple respects but without resolution as to causes, consequences or symptoms. In this way, multiple and diverse theoretical models could be developed and compared.

The very last event of the second day of the conference was a discussion session led by Janne Saarikivi and Frog. The discussion focused on organizational issues and future plans of the Austmarr Network. In particular, the development of some web resource was felt to be necessary and Kendra Willson volunteered to be responsible for website design. It was also decided that the next meeting of the Network would be held in the following year at Mid-Sweden University in Härnösand, with Maths Bertell as the main organizer of the event. A committee was established to better coordinate the network’s future activities. Members of this committee include Daniel Sävborg, Maths Bertell, Frog, Kendra Willson, Mikko Bentlin and Janne Saarikivi. The day was then rounded off with a very pleasant conference dinner.

The third day of the conference was devoted to a city tour and a museum visit in Helsinki under the expert guidance of Janne Saarikivi and Frog.

All in all, the second meeting of the Austmarr Network was most certainly a success in all possible respects, making one already look forward to the third meeting in the spring of 2013 with great expectations.

Cultural Exchanges across the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages

Symposium and Workshop

First Meeting of the Austmarr Network
14th–15th April 2011, Tartu, Estonia
by Mart Kuldkepp, University of Tartu

The name Austmarr is a rare poetic Old Norse term for the Baltic Sea. The words by the 9th century skald Þjóðólfr hvinverski about king Ingvarr's death in Estonia are well known:

ok Austmarr

jǫfri sœnskum

Gymis ljóð

at gamni kveðr.

(Finnur Jónsson 1912–1915: 11.)

The East Sea sings her song of waves;

King Yngvar’s dirge is ocean's roar

Resounding on the rock-ribbed shore.

(Laing 1844: 247.)

On 14th–15th April 2011, the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia, became the first official meeting place of the Austmarr Network, a network uniting scholars interested in comparative and interdisciplinary work in the field of pre-modern history and culture of the peoples living around the Baltic Sea. This research network was initiated by Professor Daniel Sävborg of the University of Tartu as a sub-group in the wider scholarly movement interested in the re-actualization of retrospective methods in the fields of history and culture studies, aiming to further their use in this particular regional context.

These two days in Tartu brought together scholars from Finland, Sweden, Poland and Estonia, who had the opportunity to present ongoing research, discuss future plans for the network and – last but not least – to socialize and get to know each other better. The symposium was organized as a series of presentations lasting around twenty minutes each. The presentations covered a considerable breadth of topics and were, without exception, followed by a lively discussion.

The conference talks were followed by another coffee break, during which the participants of the symposium could read the fine poster presentation of the phenomenon of changelings in Estonian and Swedish folklore by PhD student Siiri Tomingas-Joandi of the Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Tartu. The second day concluded with a roundtable discussion of future plans for the Austmarr Network.

It was decided that the next meeting will be on the theme Transcultural Contacts in the Circum-Baltic Area Symposium and Workshop and take place in Helsinki, Finland, organized by Frog and Janne Saarikivi at the University of Helsinki. The meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place on 1st –2nd of June 2011, coordinated with the Sixth Nordic-Celtic-Baltic Folklore Symposium, Supernatural Places, to be held in Tartu, Estonia, June 4th–7th, 2012. The Austmarr meeting is planned to allow one day of travel from Helsinki to Tartu in order to facilitate the participants’ attendance at both meetings. The precise dates of the network meeting will be fixed in February when the schedule of the symposium in Tartu is finalized. With the second meeting of the Austmarr Network, we hope to engage other scholars from the countries around the Baltic Sea, so that Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Denmark and so forth will also be represented in future meetings. Amongst other things, this might open up the exciting possibility of hearing and comparing alternative perspectives on processes which affected the whole region, such as the crusades or the functioning of the Hanseatic League.

Works Cited

Finnur Jónsson. 1912–1915. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning B1.: Rettet tekst. København, Rosenkilde og Bagger.

Samuel Laing. 1844. The Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway.Vol. 1. London, Longmans.

Reproduced from RMN Newsletter 3: 43–44.

Programm

Report about the lectures

Prof Ülo Valk, (University of Tartu) gave a talk titled “Migratory Legends in Estonian Folklore," mostly focusing on folk legends and different classification systems. He discussed both different ways of distinguishing genres and types of tales in folklore.

Frog, (University of Helsinki), held a presentation on “Questions of Ethnocultural Substrata in the Finno-Karelian Song of Creation and the Sampo-Cycle", investigating the possibility that some forms of exchange from Germanic to Finno-Karelian culture could have taken place in the context of a larger mythological narrative tradition circulating in the Baltic Sea region.

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson (the Museum of National Antiquities in Sweden) presented her research project on identity, self-image and cultural expression in Viking Age Sweden called Birka, Rus ́ and Nordic Gentes. The project focuses on the inhabitants of Birka and was presented in Tartu under the title “Searching for Identities in Funerary Practices and Material Culture”.

Professor Janne Saarikivi (University of Helsinki) gave some “Remarks on the Denominations of the Pre-Christian Deities in Finnic Languages”, examining the problem of deity names and other pre-Christian religious terminology among the Finnic-speaking peoples.

The first day was completed with two presentations focusing on more recent eras: Professor Leszek Słupecki (University of Rzeszów) gave an overview of the history and the present-day status of Old Norse Studies in Poland, and PhD student Mart Kuldkepp (University of Tartu) discussed the reception of Old Norse Literature in Estonia.

The second day began with a presentation by Tõnno Jonuks (Estonian Literary Museum) on the image of Estonia in Old Norse literature, which was found to be two sided: Viking Age Estonia was apparently well-known to Scandinavians as a part of the same Baltic Sea region, but later came to be associated with monsters and magic.

The day continued with Maths Bertell giving a talk on Þórr, Fjǫrgyn and their connection to Lithuanian Perkūnas.

Professor Daniel Sävborg gave a short presentation of his future research plans on Estonian folk traditions related to Viking and pre-Viking Scandinavia. Most of these traditions are certainly based on late, written sources of a learned tradition, but the development of such traditions is nevertheless interesting, and there could potentially also be folk traditions about medieval Scandinavia with actual medieval roots.