King Alfred ‘the Great’ and His Vikings In India

Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ by A Malmstrom and King Alfred ‘the Great’ by S Woodforde

KING ALFRED ‘THE GREAT’ and HIS VIKINGS IN INDIA

By Brian Howard Seibert

© Copyright by Brian Howard Seibert

With Notes in [Square Brackets] by Brian Howard Seibert

From a Copyrighted Literary Work and Intellectual Property by Brian Howard Seibert

© Copyright by Brian Howard Seibert

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The Anglo Saxon Chronicle entry for 883 AD claims that King Alfred ordered his ambassadors Sighelm and Athelstan to carry his pledged alms and gifts to Rome and also to India and the shrines of Saints Thomas and Bartholomew:

From The Anglo Saxon Chronicle:

“A.D. 883. This year went the army up the Scheldt to Conde, and there sat a year. And Pope Marinus sent King Alfred the “lignum Domini”. The same year led Sighelm and Athelstan to Rome the alms which King Alfred ordered thither, and also in India to St. Thomas and to St. Bartholomew. Then they sat against the army at London; and there, with the favour of God, they were very successful after the performance of their vows.”

The Roman Pilgrimage was central and easy, Alfred had made it himself years earlier, but the Indian pilgrimage was much harder, it being at the opposite end of the world from Alfred’s England. Alms to India would have been such a difficult offering that many historians claim that the Anglo Saxon Chronicle meant Judea, not India, but the Shrine of Saint Thomas was known to be in India, so, difficult or not, King Alfred ‘the Great’ dispatched Ambassadors Sighelm and Athelstan bearing alms to India.

Who Were King Alfred’s Ambassadors?

Many scholars identify Bishop Sighelm of Sherbourne as Alfred’s Ambassador Sighelm, but not without some required circumstances: Sighelm would have had to make the embassy in his youth and would have to become bishop in his elder years. This seems quite plausible as Alfred would be just as unlikely to send an elderly man on a long voyage as he would be to make a young man a bishop, so at least the order of the conditions is correct. Plus the return gifts of gems and spices from Indian Maharajas seem to have ended up in the Bishopric of Sherbourne.

The identity of Ambassador Aethelstan is somewhat more elusive. There are few candidates with that name in the period involved and there is no confirmation of him having made it back nor any mentions of reciprocal gifts. There is one Athelstan, however, who appears to have been overlooked by all. And he had connections to a trade route that ran east, all the way to India.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Guthrum was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. Originally a native of Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the “Great Summer Army” that arrived in Reading during April 871 to join forces with the Great Heathen Army, whose intentions were to conquer the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. The combined armies were successful in conquering the kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria, and parts of Mercia and overran Alfred the Great’s Wessex but were ultimately defeated by Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. The Danes retreated to their stronghold, where Alfred laid siege and eventually Guthrum surrendered.

From the Anglo Saxon Chronicle:

A.D. 878. This year about mid-winter, after twelfth-night, the Danish army stole out to Chippenham, and rode over the land of the West-Saxons; where they settled, and drove many of the people over sea; and of the rest the greatest part they rode down, and subdued to their will;—ALL BUT ALFRED THE KING. He, with a little band, uneasily sought the woods and fastnesses of the moors. In the Easter of this year King Alfred with his little force raised a work at Athelney; from which he assailed the army, assisted by that part of Somersetshire which was nighest to it. Then, in the seventh week after Easter, he rode to Brixton by the eastern side of Selwood; and there came out to meet him all the people of Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, and that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea; and they rejoiced to see him. Then within one night he went from this retreat to Hey; and within one night after he proceeded to Heddington; and there fought with all the army, and put them to flight, riding after them as far as the fortress, where he remained a fortnight. Then the army gave him hostages with many oaths, that they would go out of his kingdom. They told him also, that their king would receive baptism.

Earlier, in January 878, the Great Heathen Army had surprise attacked Chippenham, King Alfred’s royal stronghold, and most of the defenders were killed, except for King Alfred and a small band of followers. Some say he escaped, others say he was betrayed by some of his own Saxons and perhaps the Viking leader, Guthrum, captured and exiled the king and his band to Frankia. But Guthrum may also have gotten into the habit of collecting the beards of kings, and after divesting Alfred of his fine red beard, sent him off to Normandy!

How King Alfred ‘the Great’ May Have First Met Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ (Ohthere):

King Alfred ‘the Great’ AEthelwulfson may have been received in Normandy by Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson, but under a different name, Raudgrani, which means:

The Danish word “raud” means red

From Old Norse grani (“horse”), related to grǫn (“hair on the upper lip”).

Or ‘Red Moustache’

In ‘The Saga of Arrow Odd’ there is a character named Raudgrani who many think may have represented Odin, but who perhaps may have represented King Alfred ‘the Great’ instead. The saga may also have a parallel character for Guthrum in a warlock named Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock who was said to collect the beards of kings, weaving the hairs into a magical cloak that allowed him to have power over the kings and their lands.

Research shows the meaning of Raudgrani is Red Moustache and that Guthrum may have deprived Alfred of his red beard after defeating him at Chippenham. When one speculates correctly, proof tends to emerge on its own.

From Arrow Odd’s Saga, Starting Chapter 19 – ‘King Harek of Bjarmaland’:

One day Odd walked to the edge of a forest. He was tired, so, he sat down under a big oak tree. Then he saw a man in a blue-flecked cloak walking by with high shoes, gold emblazoned gloves and a reed in his hand. He was average height and gentlemanly in looks, but he had a lowered hood that covered his face. Odd could just make out a big moustache and long beard, both of them red. He turned to where Odd sat and greeted him by name. Odd welcomed him and asked who he might be. He said he was Grani, called Raudgrani, then he said, “I know all about you, Arrow-Odd.” “It seems to me that, since you are the greatest hero and an accomplished man, you have few followers, and travel rather like a pauper, and it is bad that a man like you should be so reduced.”

“It is true,” Odd said, “that I have not been a leader of men in a while.”

“Will you swear an oath of brotherhood with me?” Raudgrani said.

“It’s hard to deny such an offer,” said Odd, “and I will take it up.”

The above description does include a long red beard, but the name Raudgrani does not, so, for the sake of translation, let us pretend that the beard was no longer all that long. We are, after all, speculating at the moment.

King Alfred ‘Raudgrani’ may have arranged for Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ to meet two Anglish officers who had remained loyal to England and they then gathered a fleet with which to help Alfred retake Wessex. King Alfred is said to have conquered a Viking fleet that attacked Sussex and he captured a Raven Banner of the type Ragnar ‘Lothbrok’ Sigurdson was wont to carry into battle. Prince Helgi was a grandson of Ragnar, so perhaps he provided the fleet and the banner and transportation from Normandy back across the British Sea.

The Burning of the Loaves

King Alfred and his growing band then ‘fled’ to the marshes of Athelney at Easter and began building fortifications from which to carry on the fight for England. During a raid against Vikings King Alfred was given shelter by an old woman who didn’t recognize her now beardless king. She asked him to mind some cakes she had baking in her hearth, and Alfred, preoccupied with plans of resistance, let the cakes burn. She upbraided her king severely for his carelessness, which scolding he took with great patience. This incident is said to have illustrated how forgiving a king Alfred was, but it also illustrates that his own people no longer recognized their king’s fine bearded face.

The Miracle of the Fishes

Soon after King Alfred was visited in Athelney by a beggar asking alms and the king shared what little he had with him. That night the beggar appeared to Alfred in a dream and said that he was the spirit of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. The spirit went on to say that God would show mercy on England and would bless King Alfred with success and to prove it, would next day bless all with a great catch of fish. Next morning Alfred’s mother told him of a dream she’d just had, and it matched his own, and soon after his men arrived and announced they’d just made a great haul of fish.

With this miracle, King Alfred rallied the local warriors from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire to stage a growing resistance against the Viking occupation. A few successes and a dream visit or two from Saint Neot and King Alfred was rallying his troops at Egbert’s Stone for an attack upon the Danes.

The Minstrel Spies

There is also a story that King Alfred and a companion infiltrated the Great Heathen Army as minstrels and gathered high value intelligence which was then used against the Danes in the upcoming battle. How someone as famous as King Alfred would dare infiltrate an army might be explained if his companion was Arrow Odd, for he was famed for his ability to disguise himself so well that his own father would fail to recognise him.

From ‘The Saga of Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson:

Oddi spent a week in Giantland, sailing with Hilder and playing games with Hildigunn. He told them of his plans to anonymously patrol the Nor’Way to ensure that there was no slave transport being carried out on it. He told them that he would also be searching for Ogmund in his travels, but that Ogmund was foremost man for King Frodi, the most powerful king in the world. Ogmund sheltered under his king’s authority so it would be difficult to confront him without being discovered. So, Hilder and his daughter offered to provide Oddi with some Giantland magic. Hildigunn made him a masked helm of birch bark and overclothes of the bark to go with it and she stitched them up with spirit thread so that they fit over his Roman plate-mail shirt and his gold headband. They had the bark costume steeped in magic elixirs and blessed by dwarves. “When you wear the bark over your clothes,” Hilder started, “even your own father will not recognize you. But you will not stand out as a stranger either. You will seem as though someone who belongs, yet is of no importance. Wear it in your travels along the Nor’Way and even Ogmund will not know who you are.”

The Battle of Edington

With the high value intel that Alfred and Odd had acquired as minstrels, the English army caught the Danes unaware at Edington and drove them back, all the way to their fortress in Essex. The Danes were not prepared for a siege and shortly after asked for terms of peace. King Alfred met with Guthrum and wanted to take his beard in revenge, but his holy biographer, Brother Asser may have thought it better to offer him freedom for his conversion to Christianity. Guthrum accepted the offer and Alfred sponsored his baptism and gave him the Christian name of Athelstan.

After the conversion of Guthrum, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was drawn up to set out the borders between their kingdoms. The treaty marked the founding of the Danelaw. Guthrum ruled East Anglia under his baptismal name of Athelstan, likely occupying the English lands of Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’.

It may even be that Guthrum’s Christian name came from King Alfred’s building of a stone works in Athelney, Aethelstan meaning Stone of Athelney, perhaps signifying the great faith Alfred put into Guthrum’s conversion.

But it may have been this Athelstan who later took alms to India for King Alfred.

Some Speculation For Sure, But…

But Guthrum may have had another name, Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock, the main antagonist of Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ in “The Saga of Arrow Odd”. Ogmund was the foremost man of King Frodi ‘the Peaceful’ of Kiev and Denmark and Frodi ‘the Peaceful’ was anything but peaceful. He was the Danish king who originally led the ‘Great Heathen Army’ out of the Danube area of Kiev, west, to England in 865 AD. King Alfred’s biographer, Brother John Asser, described the Great Heathen Army as coming from the Danube area in his “Life of King Alfred”:

“The same year [866 AD] a great fleet of heathen came to Britain from the Danube, and wintered in the kingdom of the East Saxons, which is called in Saxon East Anglia; and there they became in the main an army of cavalry.”

The Danube Danes of the Great Heathen Army first laid waste to almost all of Norway in their pursuit of Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson, who had slain eleven of King Frodi’s grandsons in a famous Holmgangr on Samsoe Island in Denmark. And then the ‘Great Heathen Army’ laid waste to England in further pursuit of the prince. Again Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ escaped the wrath of the Danube Danes, but King Frodi and his fleet pursued Prince Helgi’s forces to the ends of the earth, which, at that time was the Newfoundland, all the way west across the Atlantean Ocean. In the Newfoundland Prince Helgi led his ships up the ‘Kanada’ River and across a great lake to the ‘Nia Gara’ Falls where he scuttled his ships and escaped via York boats through more great lakes and into the wilds of ‘The Valley of the Mound Builders’. King Frodi’s longships sat stalled out at the base of the falls. King Frodi and his fleet returned to Kievan Hraes’, east of the Danube, and Ogmund stayed in East Anglia to keep a watch out for Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’, who had holdings there. Eventually Arrow Odd returned from the Newfoundland and was soon laying low in Frankia with his uncle, King Roller of Norway, who was also in hiding as Duke Rollo of Normandy.

Speculative for sure, but that is what we do with ‘The Varangians’ Saga Series…we push the envelope and explore all possibilities!

From the Anglo Saxon Chronicle:

“A.D. 876. This year Rolla penetrated Normandy with his army; and he reigned fifty winters.”

Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ must have returned to Normandy complaining to his Uncle Rollo about how lightly King Alfred had punished Guthrum for his attack upon Wessex, but Guthrum may have let Alfred off lightly when he had power over the king after Chippenham, so Alfred may have just been reciprocating the same after Edington. In his saga, Arrow Odd often complains about the questionable help he receives from Raudgrani. Guthrum is said to have ordered an attack upon Northumbria shortly after his defeat by Alfred, but the Raven’s Banner may have been flown at the Battle of Edington, causing him concern that Arrow Odd was alive in Northumbria, as Ragnar ‘Lothbrok’ and his banner were a part of both York and the Nor’Way.

Guthrum’s Attack on Northumbria of 879:

After Guthrum’s defeat at Edington, he made peace with King Alfred and then initiated an attack on Northumbria and York, perhaps sensing that his enemy, Arrow Odd, was operating in north England. This may have led King Alfred, as Raudgrani, to warn Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ that Guthrum’s stepmother was searching the north for him in the form of a Finngalkin as follows:

“Then Raudgrani asked where Odd meant to go. “Let us first,” said Odd, “sail west to England.” So, they sailed there and they put up awnings over their ships and they sent out raiding parties for a while.

One day fine day, Sirnir and Gardar went ashore to shoot and throw weights and play sports with a leather ball. Many men joined them in these activities, but Odd stayed on his ship. Raudgrani was nowhere to be seen. The weather was very warm, and the blood brothers and many others went swimming in a nearby lake. There was a forest by the lake and they saw an incredibly large animal come out of the woods. It had a human head with immense fangs and its tail was both long and stout and its claws were remarkably large. It had a sword in each claw and both were large and gleaming in the sunlight. When this finngalkin came at the men, she howled menacingly and killed five men in the first attack. She cut down two of them with her swords, a third she bit with her teeth and two she struck with her tail. Within a few minutes, she had killed sixty men. Gardar grabbed his sword and dashed out naked against the finngalkin and he struck her with a blow so hard that it smashed one of the swords from her claw and way out into the lake, but she hit him with the other sword, and he fell, injured. Then as she jumped on top of him, in came Sirnir with his sword that never failed, named Snidil, best of all blades, and he struck the beast, and knocked the second sword into the water. The finngalkin then trampled him until he was unconscious. Men who escaped ran to the ships and told Odd that the foster-brothers and many others had been killed and said that no one could stand against the beast. “Please, Odd,” they cried, “save us and sail away from this place as quickly as possible.”

“That would be a great shame,” said Odd. “To flee and not avenge my sworn brothers, such valiant heroes? I’ll never do it.” He took his quiver and went ashore and when he had gone but a short way, he heard a frightening noise. A few steps more and Odd spotted the finngalkin. He put one of Gusir’s Gifts to the bowstring and shot it into the eye of the monster and out the back of her head. The finngalkin charged so fast that Odd could not use the bow. It clawed at his chest so hard that he fell on his back, but the shirt kept him from being killed. Swiftly he drew his sword while rolling to the side of her and cut off the beast’s thick tail when it was going to strike him. He kept one hand up so she could not bite at him as she ran toward the woods screaming horribly. Odd then shot another of Gusir’s Gifts. It hit the beast square in the back, right in the heart and through the breast and the finngalkin fell forward quite dead. Many people ran up to the monster then and hacked and hewed, those who had not dared come close before. The animal was decimated. Then Odd burnt the remains so it could not be revived by magic and he had the sworn brothers taken to his ship to be healed.

While the Christian English put much stock in the power of saints to help them in battle, the Heathen Aesir Danes believed in witchcraft and the power of transformation to aid them in battle.

The Siege of London of 883:

For many centuries the Romano British city of London had been left abandoned by the Anglo Saxons and was often occupied by Vikings, who sometimes sought shelter behind the Roman built walls of the city. Such was the case in 883 AD, when King Alfred became determined to drive occupying Vikings out from the shelter of Fortress London. Alfred was finding much fortune in the calling upon of saints in dreams so, it is likely that at the start of his siege of London, he’d had a dream of Saint Thomas of India promising him more success against Vikings if he but sent alms to the Shrine of Saint Thomas in India.

Did Guthrum of The Danelaw Meet With King Alfred To Offer The Dan’Way Trade Route as a Possible Pilgrimage to India?

Once again, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle entry for 883 AD claims that King Alfred ordered his ambassadors Sighelm and Athelstan to carry his pledged alms to the Shrine of Saint Thomas in India. While Ambassador Sighelm has been substantially identified as Bishop Sighelm of Sherbourne, the identity of Ambassador Athelstan has been elusive up until now. As can be ascertained from the above sources, it is possible that the Danish General Guthrum himself, as the Christian King Athelstan of the Danelaw, was Ambassador Athelstan. Through his true liege lord, King Frodi ‘the Peaceful’ of Kievan Hraes’ and Denmark, he would have had access to the Dan’Way Trade Route via the Baltic and Scythia all the way to Baghdad and perhaps on to India.

Fragments of both the Dan’Way and Nor’Way Trade Routes ended up in King Alfred’s translation into Old Saxon of Orosius’ Latin ‘The Geography of Europe’ and they both describe the trade routes all the way to the boundaries of Europe and no further. This would be expected, for, after all, it is a geography of Europe and not Asia.

According to the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, London was under Alfred’s rule, and General Guthrum, being under King Frodi’s rule, may have found himself being recalled to Kiev to assist his king in a planned attack upon Frankia. By 883 AD, King Frodi of Kiev had received news from his son, Prince Alf, who had led a Danish search fleet into Frankia, that a certain Norwegian royal of Rouen was soon to be promoted to Duke of Normandy and this Duke Rollo sounded very much like King Roller of Norway who had helped Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ escape the clutches of their foremost man, Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’. King Frodi would need the help of his famed general for the planned attack.

On Guthrum’s advice, a Viking named Wulfstan may have been summoned to Westminster to outline the Dan’Way Trade Route with an offer of payment for aid with the alms for India. Or was Wulfstan a derogatory name King Alfred may have given to Athelstan for failing to return from the east? The Christian convert Athelstan having become a Wulf in sheep’s clothing as it were?

Wulfstan’s Description of the Dan’Way Trade Route

From The Geography of Europe by King Alfred

“Wulfstan said that he went from Heathum to Truso in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Læland, Falster, and Sconey [Skane?], on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. “Then on our left we had the land of the Burgundians [Vaster and Oster Goths?], who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth. The Weissel is a very large river, and near it lie Witland and Weonodland. Witland belongs to the people of Eastland; and out of Weonodland flows the river Weissel, which empties itself afterwards into Estmere. This lake, called Estmere, is about fifteen miles broad. Then runs the Ilfing east (of the Weissel) into Estmere, from that lake on the banks of which stands Truso. These two rivers come out together into Estmere, the Ilfing east from Eastland, and the Weissel south from Weonodland. Then the Weissel deprives the Ilfing of its name, and, flowing from the west part of the lake, at length empties itself northward into the sea, whence this point is called the Weissel-mouth. This country called Eastland is very extensive, and there are in it many towns, and in every town is a king. There is a great quantity of honey and fish; and even the king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, whilst the poor and the slaves drink mead. There is a vast deal of war and contention amongst the different tribes of this nation. There is no ale brewed amongst the Estonians, but they have mead in profusion…”

Why Is There No India In Wulfstan’s Description?

Perhaps there was? Again, we have to keep in mind that the description was appended to ‘The Geography of Europe’ by King Alfred and the English king may have decided that here Europe ended at Estonia. Perhaps Wulfstan was very protective about the Dan’Way Trade Route, or, bold as it may sound, perhaps Wulfstan’s description was from Athelstan’s recollection of it. We have already speculated that Athelstan/Guthrum was actually Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock, King Frodi of Kiev’s foremost man and leader of the Danube Dane Great Heathen Army that attacked Norway and England in 865 AD, and further, that the Great Heathen Army was specifically after Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson’s head when King Frodi attacked the west, so, in 883 AD, when Prince Alf Frodison discovered King Roller (Rollo) Ragnarson hiding in Frankia, would not King Frodi of Kiev have recalled his foremost man, Ogmund, back to the east to prepare for an attack on Frankia? Ogmund/Guthrum/Athelstan would have jumped at the chance to lead an envoy to India at King Alfred’s own request. He may have returned to Kiev bearing gifts of gold, alms of India, for his liege lord in Kievan Hraes’. He may even have left his stepmother, a transforming Finngalkin giantess, in charge of the Danelaw in his absence, for, on Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’s return to England, he immediately attacked a giant female Finngalkin in East Anglia, England.

What ever the reason, the rest of the route to India would have been described as follows:

“With the Estonians on our port and the Lithuanians on our starboard, we then sail up the Dvina River southeast into the Land of the Sclavs, past the town of Polotsk to the village of Surazh, where a portage operation is ready to haul our ships by wain to the town of Smolensk and on to the Dnieper River. Sailing south on the Dnieper past the town of Chernigov we approach the City of Kiev on our starboard. This is where the great fleet of the Hraes’ Trading Company meets and this is where we must pay a ten percent tariff to King ‘Angantyr’ Frodi of Denmark and Kiev. Then the fleet sails south to the Scythian (Black) Sea and half the fleet sails southwest to Constantinople and the other half sails east by southeast along the Black Sea coast, then by river to the Khazar (Caspian) Sea with some sailing south to Baghdad and others sailing east to meet up with caravans going to Cathay.”

Understandably, Ambassador Athelstan never made it to India, likely going only as far as Kiev. Two years later, in 885 AD, King Frodi led an immense fleet once more west and, this time, attacked Frankia, driving King Roller (Rollo) out of Rouen and on to Paris, which had walls this time, as compared with Ragnar ‘Lothbrok’s 845 AD attack, and King Sigfried (Frodi’s Germanic name) laid siege to the city for almost a year before a plague among his troops drove him back east to Kiev again. King Roller emerged as a hero in the defence of Paris and was officially awarded the Duchy of Normandy and became Duke Rollo of Rouen.

What Were The Nor’Way and Dan’Way Trade Routes?

The Southern Way or Dan’Way Trade Route was a very old whale road from the east to the west that had come to exist during the Bronze Age. Ancient Persians had used the route throughout the Bronze Age to access the bright Cornwall tin of Britain to transform Parthian copper into bronze for the manufacture of weapons and armour. The Phoenicians controlled Mediterranean trade and all access to prized British tin, and they sought to deprive the Persians of the finest alloying agent for military grade bronze, so the Persians went around them, sailing north up the riverways of Scythia to the Baltic Sea and then west to Britain. Persian traders settled around the Baltic and intermingled with locals, bringing them their Aran tripartite gods Magi religion that came to be called the northern Aesir religion.

But the trade routes through Scythia were a very sensitive seasonal thing, being viable only in summer due to the extreme cold of the Scythian winter and only in summers that were long enough to allow the full traverse forward and back for the traders. Overwintering away from home was just too risky and dangerous. So, during global warming periods trade was brisk and profitable, but during global cooling periods the season was too short and most trade shut down. During the Roman global warming period, which peaked at the time of Christ, the Goths of Scandinavia controlled the trade route from the Baltic Sea south up the Dvina River then a portage to the Dnieper River and down it to the Black Sea and Greece and Persia. But as the Roman global cooling period took over, causing many years of progressive crop failures, the Goths migrated south to escape starvation and ran smack dab into Hunnish hordes that were likewise fleeing the frozen Asian Steppes. Attila ‘the Hun’ defeated the Goth King Eormunrekr and the Huns drove most of the Goths west towards Rome. This was the beginning of the fall, the start of ‘The Great Migrations’ and the conquest of Rome in 476 AD.

The Roman global cooling period ended circa 500 AD and a warming trend started its 500 year cycle soon after. Circa 800 AD King Ragnar Lothbrok of Denmark began reopening the Southern Way and called it the Dan’Way, but when he too slew a Roman fire breathing dragonship in Scythia, he had to flee pursuing Roman biremes north and he and his ships sailed all the way north to the White Sea and then west around the North Cape and south along the land of the Vik kings and the Nor’Way Trade Route was born.

In 822 AD the Danish Angles of Jutland fought a great battle for Zealand against King Ragnar ‘Lothbrok’ Sigurdson and they drove Ragnar out of Denmark and back into Stavanger Vik of the Nor’Way. The Angles took over Ragnar’s Dan’Way and Ragnar then focused on developing his Nor’Way. King Frodi of Angleland inherited Zealand and the Dan’Way when he was a boy, after the death of his father, King Fridleif ‘the Swift’, and soon a marriage was arranged for the young king with a Hun princess from the southern end of the Dan’Way to firm up the trade route alliance with the Khazars of Scythia. In 829 Stavanger Vik King Ragnar’s sons, Princes Roller and Erik sailed to Zealand to avenge their father’s loss. They fully intended to sacrifice themselves by killing King Frodi in his own court, but the two young men instead fell in love with King Frodi’s sister, Princess Gunwar ‘the Fair’. Prince Erik married Gunwar and the three ‘brothers’ then founded what was to become Kievan Hraes’ on the Dan’Apar River. They built a trading empire based on the sale of furs and Slavs, from which the Anglish word slaves was coined. Their trade empire was soon connected to the Silk Road of Cathay, the Indian trade route of Sindbad ‘the Sailor’ of Baghdad and the Roman Empire of Constantinople in the east, with Scandinavia in the north, and England, Ireland and Frankia in the west.

Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson was born into this trading family, but he was not enamored with the slaving aspects of the family business, The Hraes’ Trading Company, and he rebelled and killed a lot of King Frodi’s Danish subjects in battle, including eleven of his twelve grandsons in a holmganger on Samsoe Island. While trying to avoid King Frodi’s grasp, the Norwegian Prince Helgi rediscovered the Newfoundland of Saint Brendan of Ireland, extending the Hraes’ Empire even further west, turning it into a truly global enterprise.

After King Frodi lost his grandsons in The Holmganger on Samsoe Island, he gathered up a great army of Danube Danes and they left Kievan Hraes’ and ravaged the Nor’Way all the way up to Prince Helgi’s beloved Halogaland before chasing him across the North Sea to Britain and his holdings in East Anglia. This was the ‘Great Heathen Army’ of the Danes that attacked and conquered most of King Alfred’s beloved England. When Prince Helgi and his forces fled England for the Newfoundland, King Frodi followed with the great Danish fleet, but once again the young prince eluded him, escaping to the Valley of the Mound Builders that ran south along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of the Mayans. King Frodi attempted to build a portage around the ‘Nia Gara’ Falls, but ran out of time and had to return to Kievan Hraes’. But he left his foremost man, the warlock giant Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ in England to await Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ at his holdings in East Anglia.

Prince Helgi returned to Europe undetected and laid low for almost two decades in Frankia with his uncle, King Roller of Rouen, before meeting King Alfred as Raudgrani and returning with him to England and eventually being summoned to Winchester and the court of King Alfred to discuss the benefits of the Nor’Way Trade Route for a second ‘backup’ embassy to the Shrine of Saint Thomas in Mylapore, India.

Did Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson Meet With King Alfred ‘the Great’ AEthelwulfson To Offer The Nor’Way Trade Route as a Possible Pilgrimage to India?

After Guthrum/Athelstan of The Danelaw failed to return from an eight month pilgrimage to India, King Alfred ‘the Great’ of Wessex may have sent for Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson of Normandy to discuss a second embassy. It would have been unnerving for King Alfred to learn from his latest guest Ohthere (Arrow Odd) that Athelstan (Guthrum), whom Alfred had earlier sent off with gold and gifts down the Dan’Way Trade Route on an embassy to India, was none other than Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock, the war leader of the ‘Great Heathen Army’ of the Danube Danes that had ravaged England almost two decades earlier. Perhaps that is why a second embassy led by Sighelm was required.

Raudgrani may have been a representation of Alfred ‘the Great’, as he seems to have rekindled Arrow Odd’s spirit and sense of adventure. Perhaps Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson also inspired King Alfred. One can imagine King Alfred offering Ohthere (Arrow Odd) gold to transport his Ambassador Sighelm to India and back and Arrow Odd accepting the offer, but adding an additional bonus:

“I would also like to establish a Hraes’ Trading Station in London to match the trading station I have in York,” Odd would have further asked.

“But I have Vikings under siege in London,” King Alfred would protest. “That is our reason for sending alms to India. To ensure victory over the Vikings there. Besides, nobody lives in London. It has been abandoned for centuries…since the fall of Roman Britain.”

“When I return from India with Sighelm, you will soon defeat the Vikings encamped within the walls of London. You will then start rebuilding and resettling London so that Englishmen will inhabit the city and keep future Vikings out. My London Hraes’ Trading Station can help you with that. We shall provide your new English inhabitants with Indian spices, Cathayan silks and the latest Roman fashions and makeup. London will be the place to be, be you Saxons from Wessex, Angles from Mercia or Danes from the Danelaw.”

“If you succeed in India,” King Alfred would answer, “I shall succeed in London, and I promise you your choice of a hide of land within London’s walls on which to build your store.”

Ohthere’s Description of the Nor’Way Trade Route

From The Geography of Europe by King Alfred

“Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he lived to the north of all the Northmen. He says that he dwelt on the mainland to the northward, by the west sea; that the land, however, extends to a very great length thence onward to the north; but it is all waste, except in a few places where the Finlanders occasionally resort, for hunting in the winter, and in the summer for fishing along the sea-coast. He said that he was determined to find out, on a certain time, how far this country extended northward, or whether any one lived to the north of the waste. With this intent he proceeded northward along the coast, leaving all the way the waste land on the starboard, and the wide sea on the backboard, for three days. He was then as far north as the whale-hunters ever go. He then continued his voyage, steering yet northward, as far as he could sail within three other days. Then the land began to take a turn to the eastward, even unto the inland sea, but he knows not how much farther. He remembers, however, that he stayed there waiting for a western wind, or a point to the north, and sailed thence eastward by the land as far as he could in four days. Then he was obliged to wait for a due north wind, because the land there began to run southward, quite to the inland sea; he knows not how far. He sailed thence along the coast southward, as far as he could in five days. There lay then a great river a long way up in the land, into the mouth of which they entered, because they durst not proceed beyond the river from an apprehension of hostilities, for the land was all inhabited on the other side of the river. Ohthere, however, had not met with any inhabited land before this since he first set out from his own home. All the land to his right, during his whole voyage, was uncultivated and without inhabitants, except a few fishermen, fowlers, and hunters, all of whom were Finlanders; and he had nothing but the wide sea on his left all the way. The Biarmians, indeed, had well cultivated their land; though Ohthere and his crew durst not enter upon it; but the land of the Torne-Finnas was all waste, and it was only occasionally inhabited by hunters, and fishermen, and fowlers.

“The Biarmians told him many stories, both about their own land and about the other countries around them; but Ohthere knew not how much truth there was in them, because he had not an opportunity of seeing with his own eyes. It seemed, however, to him, that the Finlanders and the Biarmians spoke nearly the same language. The principal object of his voyage, indeed, was already gained; which was, to increase the discovery of the land, and on account of the horse-whales, because they have very beautiful bone in their teeth, some of which they brought to the king, and their hides are good for ship-ropes. This sort of whale is much less than the other kinds, it is not longer commonly than seven ells: but in his own country (Ohthere says) is the best whale-hunting; there the whales are eight and forty ells long, and the largest fifty; of these, he said, he once killed (six in company) sixty in two days. He was a very rich man in the possession of those animals, in which their principal wealth consists, namely, such as are naturally wild. He had then, when he came to seek King Alfred, six hundred deer, all tamed by himself, and not purchased. They call them reindeer. Of these six were stall-reins, or decoy deer, which are very valuable amongst the Finlanders, because they catch the wild deer with them.

“Ohthere himself was amongst the first men in the land, though he had not more than twenty rother-beasts [oxen], twenty sheep, and twenty swine; and what little he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. The annual revenue of these people consists chiefly in a certain tribute which the Finlanders yield them. This tribute is derived from the skins of animals, feathers of various birds, whalebone, and ship-ropes, which are made of whales’ hides and of seals. Everyone pays according to his substance; the wealthiest man amongst them pays only the skins of fifteen martens, five reindeer skins, one bear’s skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear’s or otter’s skin, two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale’s and the other of seal’s skin.

“Ohthere moreover said that the land of the Northmen was very long and very narrow; all that is fit either for pasture or ploughing lies along the sea coast, which, however, is in some parts very cloddy; along the eastern side are wild moors, extending a long way up parallel to the cultivated land. The Finlanders inhabit these moors, and the cultivated land is broadest to the eastward; and, altogether, the more northward it lies, the more narrow it is. Eastward it may perhaps be sixty miles broad, in some places broader; about the middle, thirty miles, or somewhat more; and northward, Ohthere says (where it is narrowest), it may be only three miles across from the sea to the moors, which, however, are in some parts so wide, that a man could scarcely pass over them in two weeks, though in other parts perhaps in six days. Then parallel with this land southward is Sweoland, on the other side of the moors, extending quite to the northward; and running even with the northern part of it is Cwenaland. The Cwenas sometimes make incursions against the Northmen over these moors, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are very large meres of fresh water beyond the moors, and the Cwenas carry their ships overland into the meres, whence they make depredations on the Northmen; they have ships that are very small and very light.

“Ohthere said that the shire which he inhabited is called Halgoland. He says that no human being abode in any fixed habitation to the north of him. There is a port to the south of this land, which is called Sciringes-heal. Thither he said that a man could not sail in a month, if he watched in the night, and every day had a fair wind; and all the while he shall sail along the coast; and on his right hand first is Island, and then the islands which are between Island and this land. Then this land continues quite to Sciringes-heal; and all the way on the left is Norway. To the south of Sciringes-heal a great sea runs up a vast way into the country, and is so wide that no man can see across it. (Jutland is opposite on the other side, and then Sealand.) This sea lies many hundred miles up into the land. Ohthere further says that he sailed in five days from Sciringes-heal to that port which men call Æt-Hæthum, which stands between the Winedæ, the Saxons, and the Angles, and is subject to the Danes.

“When Ohthere sailed to this place from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was on his left, and on his right the wide sea, for three days; and for the two days before he came to Hæthum, on his right hand was Jutland, Sealand, and many islands; all which lands were inhabited by the English, before they came hither; and for these two days the islands which are subject to Denmark were on his left.” [Here, by English, is meant Angles who had left Jutland to become the Anglos of Anglo-Saxon England circa 400 AD].

Why Is There No India In Ohthere’s Description?

Perhaps there was? Once more, we have to keep in mind that the descriptions, both Ohthere and Wulfstan’s, were appended to ‘The Geography of Europe’ by King Alfred and the English king may have decided that Europe ended at Biarmia and Estonia. Any further east would be considered Asia and inappropriate for a European Geography. Or perhaps traders were very protective about their routes. Whatever the reason, the rest of the route would have been described as follows:

“From the White Sea and the Land of the Biarmians we will sail southeast up the Northern Dvina River to the Land of the Permians where I trade steel swords for silver swords and then on to our Hraes’ portage station of Hawknista where we have great wains drawn by oxen that haul our ships to the Kama River. Then we sail southwards through the Land of the Volga Bulgars and we shall stop to trade in their City of Bulghar. There we trade walrus tusk ivory and narwhal spear ivory for the finest of northern furs to sell in Baghdad. Further down the Volga or Itil River we shall enter Khazaria, the Land of the Khazars, who will escort us to Atil, their capital city, where we shall have to pay a tithe or tariff of ten percent on all our goods, including your alms to Saint Thomas, before proceeding into the Caspian Sea. We sail a full week down the western coast of the Caspian to the Araks River which takes us west to a portage to the Tigris River run by Arabs who will overcharge us for their hauling services. We can hide the alms from them because they spend more time negotiating prices than they do inspecting cargoes.

The Tigris takes us all the way to Baghdad and in the circular city we will meet up with an Arab trader named Sindbad. I will leave my Hraes’ fleet in Baghdad for a summer’s trading and we shall join Sindbad’s fleet for sailing to India. We sail further down the Tigris to the Arab Sea, which the Persians call their sea, and then we sail south along the west coast of India to Ashaval where Sindbad does his summer’s trading. We shall leave him there and sail further south along the Indian coast past Mumba to Mysore, a little inland. There we will find the Shrine of Saint Thomas.”

In a tightly run trade route where portages are operated as separate profit driven entities, sailing times are reduced to the point where, under global warming cycles, a trip to India would allow perhaps a week maximum of time allowed to visit the Shrine of Saint Thomas. Then it would be a matter of retracing ones steps to get back to England. One might suppose it as being convenient that Sindbad’s trade timing would coincide so well with the Nor’Way traders’ arrivals in Baghdad, but many of the goods that the Norway traders brought to Baghdad would have been consignment in nature and would be carried further south by Sindbad’s traders for sale in Ashaval and Mumba.

It is noted in other English chronicles that Ambassador Sighelm did return to England and did bring back spices and gems that were return gifts from Indian Maharajas and that some of these gifts were kept in the Bishopric of Sherbourne where Sighelm later became bishop. It is not noted that Ambassador Athelstan returned at all!

The Siege of London of 883 – 886:

But it took King Alfred more than three years to succeed with his siege of London. It was not until 886 AD that the Vikings were driven out of London. Perhaps it took Sighelm two years to complete his embassy, for he seems to have returned from India with many gifts and spices from likely numerous Maharajas. Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ likely returned as scheduled and kept King Alfred apprised of Ambassador Sighelm’s progress. Helgi would have been a busy prince at this time as he assisted Sighelm with his embassy while running the Nor’Way Trade Route and aiding his uncle, Duke Rollo, in the defence of Paris. But Sighelm and his Embassy would have completed their business, returning in the fall of 885, and by 886, London would once again be in English hands.

The Siege of Paris of 885 – 886 [Excerpted From Wiki]:

The Siege of Paris of 885–886 was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the Kingdom of the West Franks. With hundreds of ships, and possibly tens of thousands of men, the Vikings arrived outside Paris in late November 885, demanding tribute. This was denied by Odo, Count of Paris, despite the fact he could assemble only several hundred soldiers to defend the city. Vikings under Sigfred [King SigFrodi] and Sinric [Prince Alf] arrived in Paris in November of 885 and attacked with a variety of siege engines but failed to break through the city walls despite days of intense assaults. As the siege continued, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver. The Vikings made a final unsuccessful attempt to take the city during the summer. In October, the King of the Franks, Charles the Fat, arrived with his army, but he stopped short of attacking the Viking invaders and, instead, allowed them to sail farther up the Seine to raid Burgundy, which was in revolt, and he promised the Danes a payment of 700 pounds of silver.

The morale of the besiegers was low and Sigfred asked for sixty pounds of silver. He left the siege in April [He likely lifted his siege of Paris so as not to miss the Dan’Way spring trade].

Another Viking leader, Rollo, stayed behind with his men. Charles awarded him a large allotment of land near Rouen, which would become the historic center of Normandy [Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’, realizing that King Frodi would never leave Duke Rollo in peace, planned to follow him to Kievan Hraes’ and kill him on the quays of Kiev].

Guthrum Ruled East Anglia Until His Death In 890 AD:

Once more King Alfred may have aided Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ as Raudgrani, by telling the Prince where to find Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock circa 890. Arrow Odd then sailed east with his sworn brothers to find the warlock.

“Ogmund, too, was hard in battle, having killed thirty men in a short time before Sirnir turned on him with the sword, Snidel, and they fought hard, and Sirnir was soon wounded. Oddi saw Sirnir giving ground, so he turned that way, but Ogmund saw him and fled in disarray. Sirnir and Oddi went after him and both of them were running very fast. Ogmund was still wearing his fine cape, but when they were almost upon him, Ogmund threw down the cloak and recited:

‘Now must I cast away my cloak,

which was made of kings’ beards,’

Now that Ogmund had a lighter load, he pulled away. Oddi steeled himself and ran quicker than Sirnir and, when Ogmund saw that, he turned towards him, and they fought. They were grabbing and punching frantically; Oddi was not as powerful as Ogmund, but Ogmund could not knock him off his feet. Then Sirnir came up with his sword, Snidil, and tried to strike at Ogmund, but when Ogmund saw it he turned and thrust Oddi between them. Then Sirnir held back the stroke and so it went again, that Ogmund used Oddi as a shield and Sirnir had to hold back his strokes. Then Oddi braced both feet against a very solid boulder and grabbed Ogmund’s wrists so hard that he was forced to his knees and Sirnir hacked at Ogmund who had no opportunity to parry the blow with Odd. The stroke hit him on the buttocks and took a chunk out. Sirnir cut so great a slab out of Ogmund’s backside that no mule could carry more. Ogmund was so pained that he sank down into the earth where he was. But Odd was determined to stop his escape and grabbed his beard with both hands with so much force that he tore it from him, beard and skin down to the bone, and much of his face with both cheeks and right on up his forehead to his tussock, and they parted their ways as the ground opened up for Ogmund and the boulder held for Odd. But Oddi kept what he held, dripping with gore as the earth closed above the head of Ogmund and he disappeared into the underworld.

Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson may have returned to Wessex and presented King Alfred with his long lost beard, woven into Ogmund’s cloak of kings’ beards, hereby ending the magical power that Ogmund may have held over him. Arrow Odd may also have given his king Ogmund’s beard, so violently torn from his face, and perhaps King Alfred thought that surely Ogmund would have died in such a fray. Perhaps it was Ogmund’s beard that was buried on his death in 890, according to the Annals of St Neots, in Hadleigh, Suffolk. Arrow Odd may later even have recovered the missing alms of India that King Alfred had given Guthrum from an evil masked character called King Quillanus Blaze.

Conclusion:

King Alfred ‘the Great’s “The Geography of Europe” may hold more than just the contemporary descriptions of the Nor’Way and Dan’Way Trade Routes by Ohthere and Wulfstan within its pages. Ohthere’s Nor’Way, so familiar to Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ Erikson, may have provided a pilgrimage route to India for Alfred’s Ambassador Sighelm, and, most importantly, a route back again with the jewels and gems and spices of India packed safely inside his Viking rower’s chest. And Wulfstan’s Dan’Way, so familiar to Guthrum/Athelstan/Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock, may have provided a king’s ransom of treasures for Ambassador Athelstan to return to Kievan Hraes’ with as an offering to his King Frodi ‘the Peaceful’ Fridleifson. Far from being conclusive, the speculative nature of the evidence for King Alfred’s Vikings in India shows what potentials may be turned up when the envelope of history is pushed to its limits. And what did Sindbad ‘the Sailor’ of Baghdad make of all this? Of all the Sagas of Scandinavia and beyond, none of them would have seemed more natural to Sindbad than ‘The Saga of Arrow Odd’.

But it is ‘The Saga Of Arrow Odd’ that raises many more questions about the relationship between Prince Helgi ‘Arrow Odd’ and King Alfred ‘the Great’. Was the Raudgrani, or Red Moustache character in Odd’s Saga a representation of King Alfred and, if so, did his red beard end up in the Cloak of Kings’ Beards that Guthrum/Ogmund ‘Eythjofsbane’ Tussock had woven for himself? It always seemed that the cloak of kings had been made up of the beards of eastern kings…Finns, Sami, Estonians and Lithuanians perhaps, but in the context speculated upon above, could it have been made up of the beards of English kings killed or captured since the first arrival in England of ‘The Great Heathen Army’ from the Danube a dozen or so years earlier?

King Alfred ‘the Great’ rallied the saints of England and India up against the pagan witchcraft of the invading Heathens and from the low swamps of Athelney he built an army that took back England from the clutches of the Danube Danes in an effort that can be termed nothing short of a miracle.

FINI

ATTACHMENT:

THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE

BY KING ALFRED, ETC.

Translated in 1807 by the Rev. James Ingram, M.A., Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford.

Now will we describe the geography of Europe, so far, at least, as our knowledge of it extends. From the river Tanais, westward to the river Rine (which takes its rise from the Alps and runs directly north thenceforward on to the arm of the ocean that surrounds Bryttania), then southward to the river Danube (whose source is near the river Rine, running afterwards in its course along the confines of Northern Greece, till it empties itself into the Mediterranean), and northward even unto the ocean, which men call Cwen-sea; within these boundaries are many nations; but the whole of this tract of country is called Germany.

Then to the north of the source of the Danube, and to the east of the Rine, are the Eastern Franks, and to the south of them are the Suabians; on the opposite bank of the Danube, and to the south and east, are the Bavarians, in that part which is called Regnesburh. Due east from thence are the Bohemians, and to the north-east the Thyringians, to the north of these are the Old Saxons, to the north-west are the Frieslanders, and to the west of the Old Saxons is the mouth of the Elbe, as also Friesland. Hence to the west-north is that land which is called Angleland, Sealand, and some part of Den-marc; to the north is Apdredè, and to the east-north the wolds, which are called the Heath-wolds. Hence eastward is the land of the Veneti (who are also called Silesæ), extending south-west over a great part of the territory of the Moravians. These Moravians have to the west the Thyringians and Bohemians, as also part of Bavaria, and to the south, on the other side of the Danube, is the country of the Carinthians, lying southward even to the Alps. To the same mountains also extend the boundaries of the Bavarians and the Suabians. Thence to the eastward of Carinthia, beyond the waste, is the land of the Bulgarians. To the east of them is the land of the Greeks, and to the east of Moravia is Wisle-land; to the east of that are the Dacæ, who were originally a tribe of Goths. To the north-east of the Moravians are the Dalamensæ; east of the Dalamensians are the Horithi, and north of the Dalamensians are the Servians; to the west also are the Silesians. To the north of the Horiti is Mazovia, and north of Mazovia are the Sarmatians, quite to the Riphæan mountains. To the west of the Southern Danes is the arm of the ocean that surrounds Britannia, and to the north of them is the arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east and to the north of them are the Northern Danes, both on the continent and on the islands; to the east of them are the Afdredè; and to the south is the mouth of the Elb, with some part of Old Saxony. The Northern Danes have to the north of them the same arm of the sea called Ost Sea; to the east of them is the nation of the Estonians, and the Afdredè to the south. The Estonians have to the north of them the same arm of the sea, and also the Winedæ and Burgundæ, and to the South are the Heath-wolds. The Burgundians have the same arm of the sea to the west of them, and the Sweons to the north; to the east of them are the Sarmatians, and to the south the Servians. The Sweons have to the south of them the same arm of the sea, called Ost Sea; to the east of them the Sarmatians; and to the north, over the wastes, is Cwenland; to the west-north of them are the Scride-Finnas, and to the west the Northmen.

“Ohthere himself was amongst the first men in the land, though he had not more than twenty rother-beasts, twenty sheep, and twenty swine; and what little he ploughed, he ploughed with horses. The annual revenue of these people consists chiefly in a certain tribute which the Finlanders yield them. This tribute is derived from the skins of animals, feathers of various birds, whalebone, and ship-ropes, which are made of whales’ hides and of seals. Everyone pays according to his substance; the wealthiest man amongst them pays only the skins of fifteen martens, five reindeer skins, one bear’s skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear’s or otter’s skin, two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale’s and the other of seal’s skin.

“Wulfstan said that he went from Heathum to Truso in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Læland, Falster, and Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. “Then on our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth. The Weissel is a very large river, and near it lie Witland and Weonodland. Witland belongs to the people of Eastland; and out of Weonodland flows the river Weissel, which empties itself afterwards into Estmere. This lake, called Estmere, is about fifteen miles broad. Then runs the Ilfing east (of the Weissel) into Estmere, from that lake on the banks of which stands Truso. These two rivers come out together into Estmere, the Ilfing east from Eastland, and the Weissel south from Weonodland. Then the Weissel deprives the Ilfing of its name, and, flowing from the west part of the lake, at length empties itself northward into the sea, whence this point is called the Weissel-mouth. This country called Eastland is very extensive, and there are in it many towns, and in every town is a king. There is a great quantity of honey and fish; and even the king and the richest men drink mare’s milk, whilst the poor and the slaves drink mead. There is a vast deal of war and contention amongst the different tribes of this nation. There is no ale brewed amongst the Estonians, but they have mead in profusion.

“There is also this custom with the Estonians, that when anyone dies the corpse continues unburnt with the relations and friends for at least a month, sometimes two; and the bodies of kings and illustrious men, according to their respective wealth, lie sometimes even for half a year before the corpse is burned, and the body continues above ground in the house, during which time drinking and sports are prolonged till the day on which the body is consumed. Then, when it is carried to the funeral pile, the substance of the deceased, which remains after these drinking festivities and sports, is divided into five or six heaps; sometimes into more, according to the proportion of what he happens to be worth. These heaps are so disposed that the largest heap shall be about one mile from the town; and so gradually the smaller at lesser intervals, till all the wealth is divided, so that the least heap shall be nearest the town where the corpse lies.

“Then all those are to be summoned together who have the fleetest horses in the land, for a wager of skill, within the distance of five or six miles from these heaps; and they all ride a race toward the substance of the deceased. Then comes the man that has the winning horse toward the first and largest heap, and so each after other, till the whole is seized upon. He procures, however, the least heap who takes that which is nearest the town; and then everyone rides away with his share, and keeps the whole of it. On account of this custom fleet horses in that country are wonderfully dear. When the wealth of the deceased has been thus exhausted, then they carry out his corpse from the house and burn it, together with his weapons and clothes; and generally they spend his whole substance by the long continuance of the body within the house, together with what they lay in heaps along the road, which the strangers run for, and take away.

“It is also an established custom with the Estonians that the dead bodies of every tribe or family shall be burned, and if any man findeth a single bone unconsumed, they shall be fined to a considerable amount. These Estonians also have the power of producing artificial cold; and it is thus the dead body continues so long above ground without putrefying, on which they produce this artificial cold; and, though a man should set two vessels full of ale or of water, they contrive that either shall be completely frozen over; and this equally the same in the summer as in the winter.”

Now will we speak about those parts of Europe that lie to the south of the river Danube; and first of all, concerning Greece. The sea which flows along the eastern side of Constantinople (a Grecian city) is called Propontis. To the north of this Grecian city an arm of the sea shoots up westward from the Euxine; and to the west by north the mouths of the river Danube empty themselves south-east into the Euxine. To the south and west of these mouths are the Moessians, a tribe of Greeks; to the west of the city are the Thracians; and to the west also are the Macedonians. To the south of this city, towards the southern part of that arm of the sea which is called the Egean, Athens and Corinth are situated. And to the west by south of Corinth is the land of Achaia, near the Mediterranean. To the west of Achaia, along the Mediterranean, is Dalmatia, on the north side of the sea; to the north of Dalmatia are the boundaries of Bulgaria and Istria. To the south of Istria is that part of the Mediterranean which is called the Adriatic; to the west are the Alps; and to the north that desert which is between the Carinthians and the Bulgarians.

Italy, which is of great length west by north, and also east by south, is surrounded by the Mediterranean on every side but towards the west-north. At that end of it lie the Alps, which begin westward from the Mediterranean, in the Narbonense country, and end eastward in Dalmatia, near the [Adriatic] sea.

With respect to the territory called Gallia Belgica, to the east of it is the river Rine, to the south the Alps, to the west by south the sea called the British Ocean, and to the north, on the other side of the arm of the ocean, is Britannia. The land to the west of the river Loire is Æquitania; to the south of Æquitania is some part of the Narbonense; to the west by south is the territory of Spain; and to the south the ocean. To the south of the Narbonense is the Mediterranean, where the Rone empties itself into the sea, having Provençe both on the east and west. Over the Pyrenean wastes is Ispania citerior, to the west of which, by north, is Æquitania, and the province of Gascony to the north. Provençe has to the north of it the Alps; to the south of it is the Mediterranean; to the north-east of it are the Burgundians; and the people of Gascony to the west.

Spain is triangular, and entirely guarded on the outside by the sea, either by the great ocean or by the Mediterranean, and also well guarded within over the land. One of the angles lies south-west against the island of Gades, the second eastward against the Narbonense territory, and the third north-west against Braganza, a town of Gallicia. And against Scotland (i.e., Ireland), over the arm of the sea, in a straight line with the mouth of the Shannon, is Ispania ulterior. To the west of it is the ocean; and to the south and east of it, northward of the Mediterranean, is Ispania citerior; to the north of which are the lands of Equitania; to the north-east is the weald of the Pyrenees, to the east the Narbonense, and to the south the Mediterranean.

With regard to the island Britannia, it is of considerable length to the north-east, being eight hundred miles long and only two hundred miles broad. To the south of it, on the other side of the arm of the sea, is Gallia Belgica; to the west, on the other side of an arm of the sea, is the island Ibernia, and to the northward the Orkney Isles. Igbernia, which we call Scotland, is surrounded on every side with the ocean; and hence, because the rays of the setting sun strike on it with less interruption than on other countries, the weather is milder there than it is in Britain. Thence, to the west-north of Ibernia, is that utmost land called Thila, which is known to a few men only, on account of its exceeding great distance.

Thus have we now sufficiently described all the landmarks of Europe, according to their respective situations.

*** THE END ***

King Alfred ‘the Great’ and His Vikings In India

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