Vikings in Istanbul: The Varangian Guard in Constantinople
It may sound a little cheeky when I say it, but while the Viking Age was coming to an end in the Nordic countries, it was actually continuing side by side with the Romans in Constantinople, part of what is now Istanbul.
Istanbul has a rather curious connection to Viking history. Some came to trade, others with perhaps slightly less honest intentions, and then there were those who came looking for their fortune as warriors - and ended up with a very special position. They became the emperor's men, employed directly by the Roman emperor as his personal bodyguard and elite military unit, the Varangian Guard.
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What is today often called the Byzantine Empire was the Roman Empire, with Constantinople as its centre. Its inhabitants called themselves Romans, and the emperor was the Roman emperor. It was the same Roman Empire that had existed since antiquity.
Vikings came to Constantinople by different routes. Some travelled along the rivers of what is now Russia and across the Black Sea, while others came along trade routes from Northern Europe. Some eventually found their way into the emperor's service and became part of the Varangian Guard.
And the Vikings could not simply stroll into the city whenever they felt like it. Already in the early 10th century, there were rules governing how they could enter Miklagard, as the city was known in the Viking world. They could only enter through a specific gate, had to be unarmed, and had to arrive in groups of no more than 50 at a time.
At Küçükçekmece, west of the historic city, excavations are still taking place at Bathonea, where archaeologists have found a medieval Viking settlement.
The Varangian Guard was the emperor's personal bodyguard, but the Varangians were also an elite military unit that could be deployed both on land and at sea. The name Varangian is associated with the Old Norse væringi and the Norse várar, relating to oaths and loyalty. It fits rather well with the role they came to have under the emperor. They were not part of the court, but the emperor's personal guard and a military elite who could be deployed both on land and at sea. They were employed on contract, paid directly for their service, and could be hired and dismissed as needed.
This gave them a particular position in a world where corruption and bribery were part of the political game. They were foreign soldiers without local family ties or their own networks of power at court. Their position was tied to the emperor and the contract they had with him.
Among the most famous Varangians was Harald Sigurdsson, later the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, who served in Constantinople in the 1030s. He took part in several of the emperor's campaigns, and the Norse sagas naturally did not let his time among the Varangians go unnoticed.
There is a Norse saga about Harald Hardrada which, among other things, tells of a Varangian attack on Sicily. According to the story, he had burning material tied to birds and sent them back to their nests beneath the city's thatched roofs. The birds supposedly set the town on fire. Whether the story is true is another matter entirely, but it is almost too good not to tell.
The Varangian Guard did not disappear overnight either. It existed in different forms for several centuries, but the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the subsequent occupation, when the city was ruled by Catholic crusaders for around 60 years, marked a decisive break.
When the Roman Empire regained control of Constantinople in 1261, the world that had created the Varangian Guard had already changed.
1066 is often used as the end point of the Viking Age. But for some, the story continued eastwards. After the Norman conquest of England, English warriors travelled east, and some of them eventually made their way to Constantinople and the Varangian Guard.
So perhaps it was not quite so cheeky after all. While the Viking Age was coming to an end in the Nordic world, it was continuing in the city we now call Istanbul.
And there are still traces to be found. In Hagia Sophia, the name Halfdan is carved into the marble - a kind of Viking rune graffiti, if you like.
Top illustration: Wiki Commons/Madrid Skylitzes
