The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway

In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup – was closely linked to the emergence of feudalism but was this also the case in Scandinavia? Were the resulting military specialists linked to the growing national kingdoms, or to local and regional po...

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Autor principal:	Frode Iversen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	NB SV
Publicado:	Norsk arkeologisk selskap 2021
Materias:	Archaeology CC1-960
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/52efb07e6ae44895a5c705576915af6e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:52efb07e6ae44895a5c705576915af6e2021-11-23T14:51:03ZThe Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway10.5617/viking.90460332-608X2535-2660https://doaj.org/article/52efb07e6ae44895a5c705576915af6e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.uio.no/viking/article/view/9046https://doaj.org/toc/0332-608Xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2535-2660 In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup – was closely linked to the emergence of feudalism but was this also the case in Scandinavia? Were the resulting military specialists linked to the growing national kingdoms, or to local and regional power spheres ruled by petty kings? I will investigate this in the historical region of Upplǫnd – the last Norse area to be integrated into the Kingdom of Norway by Óláfr Haraldsson around AD 1020. Two thirds of Norway’s 51 known equestrian graves are located in this inland area and I will employ a novel way of investigating their relationship to local administrative units, such as þriðjungar (thirds), herǫð (hundreds), and not least fjórðungar (fourths), as well as travel routes and settlements. There is little that suggests that these graves were linked to an early national aristocracy, and its ruling Scandinavian dynasty – Ynglingene – as has been argued in previous research. Equestrian grave traditions survived longer in Upplǫnd than elsewhere in Scandinavia, which was not Christianised until the 11th century, and it is unlikely that the buried had served the uniting and converting King Óláfr. It is also difficult to establish links between historically known lendr menn (the most prominent retainers of the king) families, and such graves. However, a new revelation is that the farms where such graves were located, were situated along the boundaries between local fjórðungar, which were judicial districts, as well as subsidiaries of local military administration in the herǫð. This suggests that these locations had important warning and supervision roles in local military systems. Frode IversenNorsk arkeologisk selskaparticleArchaeologyCC1-960NBSVViking, Vol 84, Iss 1 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	NB SV
topic	Archaeology CC1-960
spellingShingle	Archaeology CC1-960 Frode Iversen The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
description	In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup – was closely linked to the emergence of feudalism but was this also the case in Scandinavia? Were the resulting military specialists linked to the growing national kingdoms, or to local and regional power spheres ruled by petty kings? I will investigate this in the historical region of Upplǫnd – the last Norse area to be integrated into the Kingdom of Norway by Óláfr Haraldsson around AD 1020. Two thirds of Norway’s 51 known equestrian graves are located in this inland area and I will employ a novel way of investigating their relationship to local administrative units, such as þriðjungar (thirds), herǫð (hundreds), and not least fjórðungar (fourths), as well as travel routes and settlements. There is little that suggests that these graves were linked to an early national aristocracy, and its ruling Scandinavian dynasty – Ynglingene – as has been argued in previous research. Equestrian grave traditions survived longer in Upplǫnd than elsewhere in Scandinavia, which was not Christianised until the 11th century, and it is unlikely that the buried had served the uniting and converting King Óláfr. It is also difficult to establish links between historically known lendr menn (the most prominent retainers of the king) families, and such graves. However, a new revelation is that the farms where such graves were located, were situated along the boundaries between local fjórðungar, which were judicial districts, as well as subsidiaries of local military administration in the herǫð. This suggests that these locations had important warning and supervision roles in local military systems.
format	article
author	Frode Iversen
author_facet	Frode Iversen
author_sort	Frode Iversen
title	The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
title_short	The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
title_full	The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
title_fullStr	The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
title_full_unstemmed	The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway
title_sort	four petty kingdoms of upplǫnd: equestrian graves and the political integration of the norwegian highlands in late viking age norway
publisher	Norsk arkeologisk selskap
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/52efb07e6ae44895a5c705576915af6e
work_keys_str_mv	AT frodeiversen thefourpettykingdomsofupplondequestriangravesandthepoliticalintegrationofthenorwegianhighlandsinlatevikingagenorway AT frodeiversen fourpettykingdomsofupplondequestriangravesandthepoliticalintegrationofthenorwegianhighlandsinlatevikingagenorway
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The Four Petty Kingdoms of Upplǫnd: Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway

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