History is always written by the winners, not by the losers.
After the fall of Western Rome, the history of Europe has been concentrating around the Germanic peoples – as to oppose the Eastern Rome a.k.a Byzantine Empire.
During the last millennium here in the North, the history has been dominated by Vikings. The orthodoxian descendant of the Byzantine Empire – Russia, grew slowly to become an opposing power to them. Between these two powers was Finland, which was divided in two even before it had reached a level of being a nation state – or this is what we are used to think like.
But is this the truth? Confusing things are to be found from the historical writings of the winners, Germanics and Scandinavians, and considering the archeological findings.
Before the Viking Era, in the 400-700s, Finland was considerably strong and independent, for example what can be seen from the weapons and jewelry. In addition, Finland seems to have had quite direct and stable connections to the Baltic countries and Central Europe, and of course to the related tribes in the east. However, too little attention is paid to the fact why the Vikings didn’t occupy Finland even though they influenced and terrorized in almost all of Europe and controlled the Russian river routes. It is generally thought that the population of Finland was so small and the landscape difficult for travelling across that there was no bigger cities with richnesses, which made Finland less appealing target. But is this the truth? What if there was too large organized defence when compared to the amount of possible loot so it just was not worth it.
How Finland really was before it was taken under Swedish (translator’s note: meaning Sweden as a nation state) power? According to the sagas and other Germanic literature, including Widsith from the 600s and Saxo Grammaticus from 1190, Finland was not an unorganized barbarian land but a realm of about the same quality as Scandinavian realms with their kings.
In the Orkeyinga and Hversu Noregr bygdistí (How Norway was inhabited) sagas in Flateyjarbókí from the 1100s it is presented that Suomi (Finland) and Kainuu (Kvenland) were a kind of basic kingdom of the whole North, from which the kingdoms of both Norway and Denmark were established, and additionally many kings and especially queens were delivered to reign in Sweden.
The family tree of the king of Finland and Kvenland, Fornjotr (Old Jotun), is presented in its most full form in Orkneyinga saga chapter Fundinn Noreg (Finding Norway), published in Finnish in the book ‘Kvenland’ by Kyösti Julku and ‘Phases of Finland, Livland and Kurland’ by Johannes Messenius. Most of the names can be found also in Hversu Noregr bygdisti and some of the names in Historia Norwegiae from the end of 1100s. Some researchers explain these family trees to be mythical only.
However…
The Germanic literature, Widsith
The Germanic literature is mentioning Finns starting from the 600s. The oldest source, Widsith from the 600s, lists out tens of Migration period kings from the 400-500s. It mentions: Caesare weold Graecum, ond Caelic Finnum” * ”Caesar (translators note: emperor, not J.C) reigned Greeks and Caelic the Finns”. The well-known academic Kustaa Vilkuna thought that Caelic was gothic version from word ‘Kaleva’ (Gothic ending –ik).
Kalevanpoika/Kalevipoeg/Kalev’s son is an over 2000 years old tradition in the Finnish and Estonian regions. It was pointed out as early as in the 1941 by Hannes Pukki that the word ‘kalev’-‘kaleva’ meant already in proto-Finnic (1000-0 B.C.) – and still means in Estonian language, a purple fabric (translator’s note: e.g. royal mantel). This etymology has been accepted also in the later 1900s. In other words, kalevanpoika/kalevipoeg/Kalev’s son=son wearing purple fabric/mantel.
There is a juxtaposition: the sons of the Byzantine emperor were called ‘porfyrogennetos’, Purple-born. This would mean that Kalev’s sons were either a royal or an aristocratic family in Finland and Estonia living in these countries already in 1000-0 B.C.
The Finnish word for ‘king’, ’kuningas’ is either a Germanic word or a borrow done by the Germanic speakers from another language. This word has been borrowed to Finnish during the Bronze Age (1500-500 B.C.) or early Iron Age. But why to borrow a word that is not needed? This also refers to that there has been kings – Kalev’s sons – in Finland before the chronology and after.
Anglosaxon Beowulf
Danish researcher Gudmund Schütte thinks that the Finnish Egther Fynnens mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus is the same person as Ecgthow, the father of the hero in Beowulf. Surprisingly, the name is also to be found in the Finnish rune “The Condemnation of Väinämöinen”, in which a boy born and later to be a king is called Ehtaro or Ehtoopoika (translator’s note: Ehtoo-son,). If Päivä (=day) was a person’s name in the past, so could be Ehtoo (=evening). In other words, Ehtoo-Ehtaro from the Kalevala rune, and who was to be made king, would had been the Finnish Egther Fynnensis known by Saxo Grammaticus and Ecgtheow from Beowulf. Ecgtheow is meantioned to be from ‘waegmundingas’ family. Could this be a Scandinavian counterpart to Väinö/Väinämöinen, as Waegmund is spelled as Wäimund? Väinöläinen is a family name known in South-Western Finland still in the 1400s.
Sagas know the Finnish kings
The most rich information about the Finns are in the Islandic sagas (Orkneyinga, Historia Neorwegiae, Hversu Noregr bygdist, Egilin, Ynglinga, Kettil Haengrin and Bardr sagas) from the 1100-1300s. The sagas tell not only about the heroic actions of Scandinavians and Germanics but also about the Finns and the Finnish kings. When counting all the sources, there is something between 20 and 30 kings of Finland and Kvenland mentioned.
Orkneyinga and Hversu Noregr bygdist sagas even mention some of the Scandinavian gods deriving from the family tree of the Finnish kings. For instance, Hler, Loge and Kare, sons of one of the kings called Fornjotr. Hler went to Denmark and occupied the island of Hlersey/Laesö establishing a family of kings there. The sagas equate Hler and Aegir, the Scandinavian sea god (Finnish Ahti). Loge, on the other hand, established a family of kings in North Norway, from which Halogaland (high lights, Aurora borealis) is derived. Loge is also equated with fire or fire god (Finnish Liekkiö).
According to Orkneyga and Hversu Noregr bygdist sagas, also kings of Sweden derived from Finland (for example, Östen Gylf) and the kings to establish the Norwegian and Danish royalties. Additionally, some of the sagas mention Nor, a prince of Kvenland, who occupied Norway and became the first king and forefather for example to Harald Fairhair. Orkeneyinga saga even claims that the name of Norway derives from the name of prince Nor. Gor, the son of the king of Finland called Torro established a dynasty in Denmark, and his grandson Östen Gylf became the king in Sweden. A descendant to Gor was also jarl Rognvald of Norway , whose son Gange Rolf occupied Normandy and from whom the Viking Era dukes of Normandy, jarls of Rouen and Orkney Islands and even William I the Conquieror descent. Some of kings are also mentioned in Finnish runes, and also in the place names – for example Torro. Another one, Thengill, was the king of Finmark – or perhaps more accurately Kvenland, whose hinterland was Ruija/Finmark (Rutja in Kalevala?) The river Tengeliö runs in the center area of Kvenland.
In the Carta Marina by Olaus Magnus from the 1500s, there is a note on Western Finland: Finlandia-Vel-Finningia Olim Regnum, meaning ‘the ancient kingdom of Finningia. The researchers have found tombs and ancient population centers from the coast of Bothnian Bay. Kvenland is showing signs of being reality from 1000-2000 years ago in the regions it was supposed to have been.
Johannes Messenius mentions in the 1600s that the Finnish kings had laws and abilities to read and write, the same way as Scandinavian runes were used. Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, tells that Väinämöinen – during a looting trip, wrote a book/letter on a stone with his “fire blade”.
Finland-Kvenland falls down in 400 years
Starting from the 800s, Finland was between a hard place and a rock – the other side there was the Vikings, the other side there was Russians.
Howeve, Finland and Kvenland must have been existed in some form in the 1100s. Al Idrisi, who influenced in Sicily, wrote in his world atlas in 1154 for Ruija/Finmark: “The king of Finland has regions and farming land on this forementioned Norwegian region”. In other words, there still was a king in Finland and it was known even so far away as in Sicily in addition to that of knowing that he had regions in Norway.
When Finland was attached to Sweden in 1249-50 (not yet in 1155!), not much about these parts of history is heard about anymore. Even though the most famous skald of the Viking Age, Tjodolf of Hvinir was singing about Fornjotr and his sons to Harald Fairhair, the later and best known sagamaker Snorri Sturluson did not mention Fornjotr anymore in his sagas in the 1220s. Snorri used Ynglintal as a source for his own Ynglingsaga but mentions Fornjotr only when referring to a text from Tjodolv of Hvinir. Snorri is not calling the leaders of Finland and Kvenland kings either anymore, even though mentioning many of them by their name. Perhaps there was political reasons? However, even Snorri mentions Swedish kings getting a wife from Finland – they probably wouldn’t go to get only peasant girls. Fundinn Noregr, Hversu Noregr bygdist and Historia Norwegiae are older sagas than Snorris sagas and include same information as Ynglintal from the early 900s.
As Widsith from the 600s, Saxo Grammaticus in the 1190s and even Al Idrisi of Sicily in 1154 mention about the kings of Finland, perhaps there is no reason to throw this part of history to the “mythology basket” even though considering that due to the information being transferred as oral tradition it has gotten some mythological points of view to it. If it was only mythology, why would the Vikings had told about them in their sagas? And why would they place the origin of the Northern royalties exactly in Finland and Kvenland?
dervaderenerfdeel 