Norsemen to Vikings, Early Scandinavian History: Illustrated

By Duncan MacDonald

We investigate the fascinating early Scandinavian history that occurred well before the Viking Era. Commencing with the Ice Age, which ended in northern Scandinavia around 10,000 BCE. Early Nordic human habitation arrived between 10,000 BCE and c.3,500 BCE. This was followed by the Stone Age, then came the Nordic Bronze Age (c.1700 to 500 BCE), and the Scandinavian Iron Age (500 BCE to 800 CE). The succeeding Viking Age is considered to have ended in 1066 CE. We also review other historical entities that influenced Scandinavians: Norse Mythology, Greek culture, the Roman Era, plus Anglo-Saxons and Normans. Additional Postscript analyses the effects of Norse bloodlines on selected Irish and Scottish families, and in particular their descendants in Australia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Duncan MacDonald
• Release date: Oct 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463279205

Duncan MacDonald

Duncan is an Australian currently living in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is married to Shinta Dewi Sanawiya, muse, mate, motivator and President Director of the business he founded in 1993, dMAC Group in Asia, now PT Daya MACro Dinamika.Duncan has had a passion for history since childhood. He travelled alone to Turkey in 1975 to visit ANZAC Cove, scene of Australia and New Zealand’s entry to World War I. He then worked for 5 years in London, enabling him to research the Roman Empire’s occupation of Britain and question the Arthurian legends. He has published his illustrated historical e-novels set in Ireland and Britain in the 1st-7th centuries on Smashwords. Search for 'Culann - Celtic Warrior Monk'.Duncan has also published an illustrated account of his private pilgrimage to 'Anzac Cove and Lone Pine in 1975' - Search for 'Anzac'Those interested in obtaining the latest historical information on the Battle of Waterloo, (detailing who actually defeated Napoleon) can download Duncan's illustrated version in dMAC Digest Vol 4 No 6 'Waterloo'. Also the Jakarta Journals, tracing Indonesian history over the past 2,000 years, up to granting of Independence in December 1949.Any one of Duncan's 12 'dMAC Digest Health & History' magazines, or 5 illustrated historical novels can be downloaded at Smashwords.'Britannia Bulletin #1 and #2' are the latest illustrated historical novel published by Duncan. Set in the 1st & 2nd century CE we follow the adventures of a Roman Legionary in Europe & Britain. He records the lives of the early Roman Emperors and Governors of Britannia, their initial rise to power and occasional fall from grace. Major battles are dealt with in detail.

Book preview

Bronze Age couple watching a warrior in front of his home in Denmark

We investigate the fascinating early Scandinavian history that occurred well before the Viking Era (793 CE – 1066 CE) - commencing with the Ice Age, which ended in northern Scandinavia around 10,000 BCE.

Early Nordic human habitation arrived between 10,000 BCE and 5,000 BCE.

This was followed by the Stone Age covering the time-period between c.10,000 BCE and c.3500 BCE. Then came the Nordic Bronze Age (c.1700 - 500 BCE) and the Scandinavian Iron Age (500 BCE to 800 CE).

The following Viking Age is considered to have ended in 1066 CE.

Norse Mythology played an important role for much of the early historical period. According to this ideology, the outcome of our actions is predetermined, and we cannot change our fate; what is important is our conduct as we go to meet it.

We also review other historical entities that influenced Scandinavians: Greek culture; the Roman Era, plus the Anglo Saxons and Normans.

* * * *

This latest edition has an added Postscript

Scotland’s Northern and Western Islands, and a large part of the coastal mainland were conquered by the Vikings in the first quarter of the 9th century. A Viking kingdom was set up there in the early 850’s CE.

Several Scottish clans have Norse-Gaelic roots, such as Clan MacDonald, Clan MacDougal, and Clan MacLeod. A team of researchers from Scotland and the UK has found via genetic study, that many people in modern Scotland are of Norwegian descent. [ Medicalxpress.com Sept 3, 2019 ]

The researchers suggest the reason so many people in Northern Scotland have such a high degree of Norse blood is because people in those areas tended to marry locally.

Also, the Vikings overran parts of Ireland. We look at a particular Irish family (the Scott’s) that settled in Australia.

Many Scottish clans migrated to Australia, and we look at one of the MacDonald families.

Both these families had members who participated in World War II and Vietnam.

Back to top

* * * *

Chapter 1 – Early Scandinavian History

Scandinavia’s early history reveals tens of thousands of years of geological change, and captivating tales of human settlement – long before the coming of the Vikings.

First there was the Ice Age when geological changes carved dramatic landscapes in Northern Europe.

Following the last Ice Age, parts of the Norwegian coast-line became free of ice around 11,000 BCE. But it was not until about 7,000 BCE that all of Norway, Sweden and Finland was free from ice.

* * * * *

1.1 – Ice Age

Ice Age Europe – approx. 12,000 years ago

What causes an Ice Age? An ice age occurs when a significant amount of the Earth’s water is locked up on land in continental glaciers. An ice age is triggered when summer temperatures in the northern hemisphere fail to rise above freezing for years.

This results in the winter snowfall not melting, and instead builds up, compresses, then over time glaciates into ice sheets. This also causes sea levels to drop.

During the last ice age, which finished about 10,000 years ago, gigantic ice masses covered huge areas of land, now inhabited by millions of people.

Northern Europe, Canada as well as northern Asia were completely covered by ice sheets.

Norway was covered by an ice sheet up to 3,000 meters deep. [ approx. 9,800 feet ] [1] This resulted in the land mass below being compressed down by the enormous weight of the ice field above.

[1] Scandinavian Ice Sheet - Encyclopaedia Britannica

Gradually the glaciers started to move, accelerated by the melting of the ice far below where it was warmest. Huge rocks broke away at various points to form part of the glaciers. This resulted in wearing away the mountains underneath, and carving of large escarpments, and deep water inlets that we now call fjords. Calmer than the sea, these fjords are natural harbours.

In the early Norse era (people from the north), small towns developed near a fjord, and used the ports for trade, fishing, and other maritime activities.

At that time, the sea level was 120 meters [ 393 feet ] lower than today.

* * * *

The Earth’s northern hemisphere is estimated to have been through as many as 30 ice ages during the last 3 million years, with the latest ice age lasting about 100,000 years. Each of these ice ages was broken up by around 10,000 years of warmer weather.

♦ The onset of an ice age is related to changes in the Earth’s tilt and orbit which combine to affect which areas on Earth get more or less solar radiation. When these factors align so that the northern hemisphere gets less solar radiation in summer, an ice age can be started.

♦ Based on previous cycles, the Earth was probably due to go into an ice age about now. In fact, conditions were starting to line up for a new ice age at least 6,000 years ago. Back then, summers started getting colder – but the current warmer climate change has reversed that trend.

♦ There is a hypothesis that it’s not just the industrial revolution, but ever since humans began practicing large scale farming, at least 5,000 years ago, the effects - such as methane gas expelled from rice paddies, and emissions from cattle, have contributed to global warming.

"So, it’s possible not just greenhouse gas emissions over the last 200 years that stopped us going into an ice age, but it’s actually greenhouse gas emissions for the last 5,000 years that have collectively helped to steer us away from the next ice age." [2]

[2] Dr Steven Phipps, a palaeoclimatologist with University of Tasmania, 2020

* * * *

Norway’s Ice Age

Norway’s rugged coastline with its steep sided fjords was strongly influenced by the ice age, as were inland rivers and valleys. The ice also created large inland lakes.

Life after the last ice age was hard, say the archaeologists who dig for clues about the first settlers in Northern Norway. The first people who migrated to Northern Norway after the last ice age were probably few in number.

"A cautious estimate suggests no more than 500 people. That is the generic minimum for maintaining a population. Just like today, people wanted to live near water. My hypothesis is that people settled on river terraces in the interior of Finnmark (a county in the north of Norway) as far back as 9,000 years ago." [3]

[3] Professor Hans Peter Blankholm, of the Arctic University of Norway, Tromso.

At the height of the last glaciation the ice grew to more than 12,000 ft [ 3,600 m ] thick, as sheets spread across Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia. Corresponding sea levels plunged more than 400 ft [ 120 m ].[4]

[4] Professor Bryan Hood, Dept of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies & Theology, Tromso.

Back to top

* * * * *

1.2 – Ice Ages impact on Human Evolution

Hunter-gatherers on a receding Norway Glacier

Ice Ages have had an enormous impact on human evolution. During the last ice age, which ran from about 110,000 years to 10,000 years ago, the lower sea levels allowed humans to move out across the entire world.

There was no Baring Strait, so north America and Asia were joined, and that’s actually how humans first roamed into the America’s. They just walked over the land bridge about 16,500 years ago.

While there was still some water between Asia and Australia, it took just a few short canoe trips to bring the first humans to Australia. Some early inhabitants of Indonesia came by canoe from the southern island of Rote, over 60,000 years ago (either by design or swept by ocean currents). The Australian mainland was the not visible from Rote as it was over the horizon, but smoke from bush fires was visible – so they knew ‘something was there’.

"However, in the deep past (between 70,000 to 60,000 years ago) people from Timor and Rote could see a now drowned island chain in the Timor Sea ( currently more than 100 meters below sea level ). From this island chain it was possible to see the Australian mainland." [1]

[1] Kasih Norman, University of Wollongong, April 2, 2018

Others would have come from New Guinea. There was no Torres Strait, so humans could have just walked from New Guinea to the Australian mainland.

Also, there was no Bass Strait, and early humans trekked from the southern Australian mainland over to Tasmania.

* * * *

The migration of humans around the world during the last 100,000 years was made entirely possible by the fact we were in an ice age at the time.

How can we know so much about these major events in the past? Evidence for the more recent ice ages comes from changing sea levels which can be seen by looking at coral reefs or modern landscapes. By looking at corals and coral reefs, plus evidence of past sea level changes in the tropics, scientists determined there was a cycle of changing sea levels.

Ice core records also provide invaluable information on changes in temperatures and greenhouse gasses over the last 800,000 years.

Going back further into the past, evidence for ice ages in the last tens of millions of years is predominately seen in ocean sediments. If you go out into the open ocean you can drill a core down through the sediments into the ocean bed and that can take you back tens of millions of years.

To analyse the time ice ages occurred tens to hundreds of millions of years ago, scientists use the geological record to unravel sea level, and climate by analysing rocks of various ages.

Back to top

* * * * *

1.3 – Original Brexit

Original Brexit – 450,000 years ago. Chalk ridge between (now) Dover and Calais being eroded.

View from Dover.

Scientists find Brexit actually happened 450,000 years ago. The latest research shows how Britain separated from the European continent, while beforehand the two had been joined together, jutting out in the same way as Denmark does today.

450,000 ago, Europe was in the grip of a major ice age. Before the end of that ice age, an immense rock ridge made of mostly chalk connected modern Dover and Calais. This chalk ridge acted as a huge dam, creating the lake formed from melting water in front of North Sea ice sheets.

But then, the lake overflowed in huge waterfalls, eroding the rock and chalk away until it broke, and released huge amounts of water into the valley below.

Later on – perhaps over thousands of years – the Dover Strait was fully opened up. Other smaller lakes in front of North Sea ice sheets spilled over into a valley network between the two landmasses, separating entirely what is now Britain and France. [1]

[1] Jenny Collier, co-author of the study from the Dept of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London. and Sanjeev Gupta, Professor of Earth Science, Imperial College London.

Back to top

Ω ~ Ω ~ Ω ~ Ω ~ Ω

Chapter 2 – Stone Age – The First Settlers

Stone Age men making fire

The melting ice sheets brought in a new era - the Stone Age. The open coastal flatlands became ideal places for the earliest Scandinavian inhabitants. These first hunter-gatherers can be traced back to the Stone Age.

The Stone Age was an extensive prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or