| Ingvar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Legendary King of Sweden | |||||
| Predecessor | Sölve | ||||
| Successor | Anund | ||||
| Died | early 7th century | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | House of Yngling | ||||
| Father | Eysteinn | ||||
Ingvar orYngvar (Old Norse:Yngvarr[ˈyŋɡwɑrː], d. early 7th century) was the son ofÖsten and reclaimed the Swedish throne for theHouse of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled againstSölve.[1]He is reported to have fallen in battle inEstonia and been buried there. Although the account of Ingvar is semi-legendary, the discovery of twoboat grave sites inSalme, modernEstonia has confirmed that a similar historic event took place in the 8th century.
Snorri Sturluson relates in hisYnglinga saga that King Ingvar, Östen's son, was a great warrior who often spent time patrolling the shores of his kingdom fighting Danes and Estonian vikings (Víkingr frá Esthland). King Ingvar finally came to a peace agreement with the Danes and could take care of theEstonian vikings.[citation needed]
He consequently started pillaging inEstonia in retribution, and one summer he arrived at a place called Stein (see alsoSveigder). The Estonians (sýslu kind) assembled a great army in the interior and attacked King Ingvar in a great battle. The Estonian forces were too powerful and Ingvar fell and the Swedish forces retreated. Ingvar was buried in a mound at a place calledStone orHill fort (at Steini) on the shores ofSaaremaa (Aðalsýsla).[citation needed]
Snorri then quotes a stanza fromÞjóðólfr of Hvinir'sYnglingatal:
Þat stǫkk upp,
at Yngvari
Sýslu kind
of sóit hafði.
Ok Ljósham
við lagar hjarta
herr eistneskr
at hilmi vá.
Ok austmarr
jǫfri sœnskum
Gymis ljóð
at gamni kveðr.[2]
TheHistoria Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary ofYnglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation (continuing afterEysteinn):
Hujus filius Ynguar, qui cognominatus est canutus, in expeditione occisus est in quadam insula Baltici maris, quæ ab indigenis Eysysla[3] vocatur. Iste ergo genuit Broutonund, quem Sigwardus frater suus [...].[4] | His son Yngvar, nicknamed the Hoary, was killed by the inhabitants while campaigning on an island in the Baltic called Ösel. Yngvar bred Braut-Ånund, whose brother, Sigurd, [...][5] |
Ynglingatal only mentions the locationSysla (area paying tribute),Historia Norwegiae only mentions that he died during a campaign on the islandEycilla, i.e.Eysysla (Ösel). In addition to his sonAnund (Broutonund), it also adds second son named Sigvard.
Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar skips Ingvar's generation and makes his fatherÖsten the father ofAnund and grandfather ofIngjald. It adds a second son to Östen named Olaf, who was the king ofFjordane inNorway.
In 2008–2010, theship burial of two ships were discovered inSalme,Estonia, theSalme ships. Remains from at least 42 individuals were discovered in the two ships.[6] Most of them belonged to 30–40 years old males who had been killed inbattle.[7][8]Isotope analysis of some of the teeth, combined with the design of the buried artifacts, suggest that the men came from centralSweden.[9] The smaller ship contained the skeletal remains of 7 individuals. There were at least 36 individuals buried in four layers in the large ship.[10] In samples from the 7th century Salme defined Y-chromosome haplogroupR1a1a1b,N1a1a1a1a1a1a,I1-M253 and mtDNA haplogroup T2b5a, V, J2a1a1a2, H10e, K1c1h, W6a, U3b1b.[11] The DNA analysis showed that four of the men were brothers and they were related to a fifth man, perhaps an uncle.[12]
The ships wereclinker-built and archaeologists have estimated their time of construction to be AD 650–700 inScandinavia. There are signs indicating they had been repaired and patched for decades before making their final voyage. One of the ships is 11.5 metres (38 ft) long and 2 metres (7 ft) wide. It did not have mast or sails, and they would have been rowed for short distances along the Baltic coast, or between islands,[13] or straight across the Baltic, as rowing longer distances has proved perfectly feasible time and again in modern times. This is also indicated by the Old Norse word for distance across water "vikusjö, vikja" the distance to row before changing rowers, a distance of about 4.2 nautical miles (7.8 km; 4.8 mi).
The second ship was 17–17.5 metres (56–57 ft) long and 3 metres (10 ft) wide. This larger ship had a keel for sailing[14] which would arguable make it the oldest viking sailing ship found so far, possibly redefining the beginning of the viking age (for comparison seeOseberg Ship,Gokstad ship andGjellestad ship burial).
According to a confirmed interpretation offered by Jüri Peets, the lead archaeologist at the site, the ships and the dead are ofScandinavian origin, from Mälar region in Sweden, where similarly decorated sword hilts have been found; osteological analysis also indicates Mälar region and several men have been found to relatives.[14]
According to one scenario, a war party ofScandinavians attempted to carry out a raid against theOeselians (Estonian inhabitants of the island of Saaremaa), but were attacked by Oeselian ships. The sides of the two ships contain numerous embedded arrowheads, some of which are of the three-pointed type used to carry burning materials to set enemy ships aflame. After losing too manyoarsmen to the Estonianarchers, the raiders pulled their ships aground and tried to defend themselves behind them. It appears that after the battle, the Oeselians allowed either the survivors or some other group of Scandinavians to ritually bury their dead. The burial is unusual because the ships were not covered with earth mounds. The site was eventually forgotten by the local inhabitants after it had become overblown by sand and covered with vegetation.[7] The raid-hypothesis has led to a questioning of when theViking Age began exactly. The Salme event took place 50–100 years earlier than the infamousLindisfarne Viking raid in England in the summer of AD 793.[13]
The original interpretation was called into question after the second, larger, ship was uncovered in 2010. It is likely that the human remains in it belonged to individuals of noble birth, as evidenced by the large number of expensive bronze sword-hilts and the complete lack of weaponry associated with commoners. The presence of dogs and hawks used for falconry indicates that the original purpose of the trip to Estonia may have beenleisure ordiplomacy.[10] Peets suggests that the men may have come on a voyage from Sweden to forge an alliance or establish kinship ties when unknown parties set upon them.[9]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Nerman, B.Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
Ingvar | ||
| Preceded by | Legendary king of Sweden | Succeeded by |