Hedeby

Not to be confused withHejdeby.

Hedeby

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Reconstructed houses in the area of the old settlement
Location	Busdorf,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany
Part of	Archaeological Border Complex of Hedeby and theDanevirke
Criteria	Cultural: (iii), (iv)
Reference	1553
Inscription	2018 (42ndSession)
Coordinates	54°29′28″N9°33′55″E
Location of Hedeby in Germany Hedeby (Schleswig-Holstein)

Hedeby(Danish pronunciation:[ˈhe̝ːðəˌpyˀ],Old Norse:Heiðabýr,German:Haithabu) was an importantDanishViking Age(8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of theJutland Peninsula,now in theSchleswig-Flensburgdistrict ofSchleswig-Holstein,Germany.Around 965, chroniclerAbraham ben Jacobvisited Hedeby and described it as, "a very large city at the very end of theworld's ocean."

The settlement developed as a trading centre at the head of a narrow, navigable inlet known as theSchlei,which connects to theBaltic Sea.The location was favorable because there is a short portage of less than 15 km to theTreene River,which flows into theEiderwith itsNorth Seaestuary, making it a convenient place where goods and ships could be pulled on acorduroy roadoverland for an almost uninterrupted seaway between the Baltic and the North Sea and avoid a dangerous and time-consuming circumnavigation of Jutland, providing Hedeby with a role similar to laterLübeck.Hedeby was the second largest Nordic town during the Viking Age, afterUppåkrain present-day southern Sweden.The city ofSchleswigwas later founded on the other side of the Schlei. Hedeby was abandoned after its destruction in 1066.

Hedeby was rediscovered in the late 19th century and excavations began in 1900. TheHedeby Viking Museumwas opened next to the site in 1985. Because of its historical importance during the Viking Age and exceptional preservation, Hedeby and the nearby defensive earthworks of theDanevirkewere inscribed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage Listin 2018.

Hedeby is mentioned inHans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Marsh King's Daughter".

Name

Site of the former town of Hedeby

Map of Viking Denmark with Hedeby at the southern edge

Bilingual map of the Schlei (German and Danish placenames)

Two reconstructed houses at Hedeby

The Old Norse nameHeiða-býrsimply translates to "heath-settlement" (heiðr"heath"andbýr= "yard; settlement, village, town" ). The name is recorded in numerous spelling variants.

• Heiðabýris the reconstructed name in standardOld Norse,also anglicized asHeithabyr.
• TheStone of Eric,a 10th-century Danishrunestonewith an inscription mentioning ᚼᛅᛁᚦᛅ᛭ᛒᚢ (haiþa bu), found in 1796.
• Old Englishæt Hæðum,fromOhtere's andWulfstan's accounts of their travels toAlfred the Greatin the Old EnglishOrosius.
• Hedeby,the modern Danish spelling, also most commonly used in English.
• Haddebyis theLow Germanform, also the name of the administrative district formed in 1949 and named for the site; in 1985, the district introduced a coat of arms featuring a bell with arunicinscription reading ᚼᛁᚦᛅ᛬ᛒᚢ (hiþa:bu).
• Haithabuis the modern German spelling used when referring to the historical settlement; this spelling represents the transliteration of the name as found in theStone of Ericinscription; it was introduced among other variants in antiquarian literature in the 19th century and has since become the standard German name of the settlement.

Sources from the 9th and 10th century AD also attest to the namesSliesthorpandSliaswich(cf.-thorpvs.-wich), and the town ofSchleswigstill exists 3 km north of Hedeby.However,Æthelweardclaimed in his Latin translation of theAnglo-Saxon Chroniclethat the Saxons usedSlesuuicand the DanesHaithabyto refer to the same town.

History

Origins

Hedeby is first mentioned in the Frankish chronicles ofEinhard(804), who was in the service ofCharlemagne,as a place Charlemagne stayed in the summer of 804, at the end of theSaxon Wars.In 808 the Danish kingGodfred(Lat. Godofredus) destroyed a competingSlavtrade centre namedReric,and it is recorded in the Frankish chronicles that he resettled the merchants from there to Hedeby. This may have provided the initial impetus for the town to further develop.

The same sources record that Godfred strengthened theDanevirke,an earthen wall that stretched across the south of the Jutland peninsula. The Danevirke joined the defensive walls of Hedeby to form an east–west barrier across the peninsula, from the marshes in the west to the Schlei inlet leading into the Baltic in the east.

The town itself was surrounded on its three landward sides (north, west, and south) by earthworks. At the end of the 9th century the northern and southern parts of the town were abandoned for the central section. Later a 9-metre (29-ft) high semi-circular wall was erected to guard the western approaches to the town. On the eastern side, the town was bordered by the innermost part of the Schlei inlet and the bay ofHaddebyer Noor.

Timeline

based on Elsner
793	Viking raid onLindisfarne- traditional date for the beginning of theViking Age.
804	First mention of Hedeby
808	Destruction ofRericand migration of tradespeople to Hedeby
c. 850	Construction of a church at Hedeby
886	TheDanelawis established inEngland,following Viking invasion
911	The Vikings settle inNormandy
948	Hedeby becomes a bishopric
965	Visit ofAl-Tartushito Hedeby
974	Hedeby falls to theHoly Roman Empire
983	Hedeby returns to Danish control
c. 1000	The VikingLeif EriksonexploresVinland,probably in Newfoundland
1016–1042	Danish kings rule in England
1050	The Norwegian KingHarald Hardradadestroys Hedeby
1066	Final destruction of Hedeby by a Slavic army.
1066	Traditional end of theViking Age

Rise

Hedeby became a principal marketplace because of its geographical location on the major trade routes between theFrankish EmpireandScandinavia(north-south), and between theBalticand theNorth Sea(east-west). Between 800 and 1000 the growing economic power of theVikingsled to its dramatic expansion as a major trading centre. Along withBirkaandSchleswig,Hedeby's prominence as a major international trading hub served as a foundation of theHanseatic Leaguethat would emerge by the 12th century.

Hedeby played an important role in the international Viking slave trade between Europe and the Muslim world. People taken captive during the Viking raids in Western Europe, such as Ireland, could be sold toMoorish Spainvia theDublin slave tradeor transported to Hedeby orBrännöin Scandinavia and from there via theVolga trade routeto Russia, where slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silverdirhamand silk, which have been found inBirka,WollinandDublin;initially this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passedvia the Khazar Kaghanate,but from the early 10th-century onward it wentvia Volga Bulgariaand from there by caravan toKhwarazm,to theSamanid slave marketin Central Asia and finally via Iran tothe Abbasid Caliphate.

The following indicates the importance achieved by the town:

• The town was described by visitors from England (Wulfstan- 9th century) and the Mediterranean (Al-Tartushi- 10th century).
• Hedeby became the seat of a bishop (948) and belonged to the Archbishopric ofHamburgandBremen.
• The town minted its own coins (from 825).
• Adam of Bremen(11th century) reports that ships were sent from thisportus maritimusto Slavic lands, toSweden,Samland(Semlant) and evenGreece.

A Swedish dynasty founded byOlof the Brashis said to have ruled Hedeby during the last decades of the 9th century and the first part of the 10th century. This was told toAdam of Bremenby the Danish kingSweyn Estridsson,and it is supported by threerunestonesfound in Denmark. Two of them were raised by the mother of Olof's grandsonSigtrygg Gnupasson.The third runestone, discovered in 1796, is from Hedeby, theStone of Eric(Swedish:Erikstenen). It is inscribed withNorwegian-Swedish runes.It is, however, possible that Danes also occasionally wrote with this version of theyounger futhark.

Lifestyle

Life was short and crowded in Hedeby. The small houses were clustered tightly together in a grid, with the east–west streets leading down to jetties in the harbour. People rarely lived beyond 30 or 40, and archaeological research shows that their later years were often painful due to crippling diseases such as tuberculosis.

Al-Tartushi,a late 10th-century traveller fromal-Andalus,provides one of the most colourful and often quoted descriptions of life in Hedeby. Al-Tartushi was fromCordobainSpain,which had a significantly more wealthy and comfortable lifestyle than Hedeby. While Hedeby may have been significant by Scandinavian standards, Al-Tartushi was unimpressed:

"Slesvig (Hedeby) is a very large town at the extreme end of the world ocean... The inhabitants worshipSirius,except for a minority of Christians who have a church of their own there.... He who slaughters a sacrificial animal puts up poles at the door to his courtyard and impales the animal on them, be it a piece of cattle, a ram, billy goat or a pig so that his neighbours will be aware that he is making a sacrifice in honour of his god. The town is poor in goods and riches. People eat mainly fish which exist in abundance. Babies are thrown into the sea for reasons of economy. The right to divorce belongs to the women.... Artificial eye make-up is another peculiarity; when they wear it their beauty never disappears, indeed it is enhanced in both men and women. Further: Never did I hear singing fouler than that of these people, it is a rumbling emanating from their throats, similar to that of a dog but even more bestial. "

Destruction

The town was sacked in 1050 by KingHarald Hardradaof Norway during a conflict with KingSweyn II of Denmark.He set the town on fire by sending several burning ships into the harbour, the charred remains of which were found at the bottom of the Schlei during recent excavations. A Norwegianskald,quoted bySnorri Sturluson,describes the sack as follows:

Burnt in anger from end to end was Hedeby[..]

High rose the flames from the houses when, before dawn, I stood upon the stronghold's arm

In 1066 the town wassackedand burned byWest Slavs.Following the destruction, Hedeby was slowly abandoned. People moved across theSchleiinlet,which separates the two peninsulas ofAngelnandSchwansen,and founded the town ofSchleswig.

Archaeology

20th-century excavations

View of the Viking Museum

Reconstructed houses

After the settlement was abandoned, rising waters contributed to the complete disappearance of all visible structures on the site. It was even forgotten where the settlement had been. This proved to be fortunate for later archaeological work at the site.

Archaeological work began at the site in 1900 after the rediscovery of the settlement. Excavations were conducted for the next 15 years. Further excavations were carried out between 1930 and 1939. Archaeological work on the site was productive for two main reasons: that the site had never been built on since its destruction some 840 years earlier, and that the permanently waterlogged ground had preserved wood and other perishable materials. After the Second World War, in 1959, archaeological work was started again and has continued intermittently ever since. The embankments surrounding the settlement were excavated, and the harbour was partially dredged, during which the wreck of multipleViking shipswere discovered, including theHedeby 1.Despite all this work, only 5% of the settlement (and only 1% of the harbour) has as yet been investigated.

The most important finds resulting from the excavations are now on display in the adjoiningHedeby Viking Museum.

21st-century reconstructions

In 2005 an ambitious archaeological reconstruction program was initiated on the original site. Based on the results of archaeological analyses, exact copies of some of the original Viking houses have been built.

See also

• Hedeby Viking Museum
• Hedeby stones,Schlei
• People:Wulfstan of Hedeby,Al-Tartushi,Adam of Bremen,Harold Hardrada,Rurik,Godfred (Danish King),Olof the Brash
• Towns:Jelling,Birka,Ribe,Schleswig,Reric
• Viking Age

Bibliography and media

• A number of short archaeological films relating to Hedeby and produced by researchers during the 1980s are available on DVD from theUniversity of Kiel's Archaeological Film Project.
• Most publications on Hedeby are in German. SeeWikipedia's German-language article on Hedeby.
• Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole (1997).Viking-Age Ships and Shipbuilding in Hedeby/ Haithabu and Schleswig. Ships and Boats of the North 2.Schleswig and Roskilde: Archaeologisches Landesmuseum der Christian-Albrechts-Universitat, Wikinger Museum Haithabu, The National Museum of Denmark, and The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

External links

• Website of the Haithabu Viking Museum
• Pictures from the Haithabu Viking MuseumArchived2018-01-30 at theWayback Machine
• Flickr Photo Gallery: Viking houses and museum