Serkland
InOld Norsesources, such assagasandrunestones,Serkland(alsoSærkland,Srklant,Sirklant,Serklat,etc.) was the "land of theSerkir",usually identified with theSaracens.
The exact etymology is disputed.Serk- may derive from "Saracen"; fromsericum,Latin for "silk", implying a connection with theSilk Road;from the Khazar fortress ofSarkel;or fromserkr,shirt or gown, i.e., "land of the gown-wearers". In all cases it refers to a land in the East. Originally, it referred to the land south of theCaspian Sea,but it gradually expanded to cover all Islamic lands, including parts ofAfrica(and possibly evenMuslim Sicily).[1][2]
Notably one of theIngvar runestones,theSö 179,raised circa 1040 atGripsholm Castle,commemorates aVarangianloss during an ill-fated raid in Serkland. The other remaining runestones that talk of Serkland areSö 131,Sö 279,Sö 281,theTillinge Runestoneand probably the lost runestoneU 439.For a detailed account of such raids, seeCaspian expeditions of the Rus'.
Several sagas mention Serkland:Ynglinga saga,Sörla saga sterka,Sörla þáttr,Saga Sigurðar Jórsalafara,Jökulsþáttur Búasonar[3]andHjálmþés saga ok Ölvis.It is also mentioned by the 11th centuryskaldÞórgils Fiskimaðr,[4]and the 12th century skaldÞórarinn Stuttfeldr.[5]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Judith Jesch,Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse(Boydell, 2001), p. 104ff.
- ^Stefan Brink, "People and land in Early Scandinavia", in Ildar H. Garipzanov, Patrick Geary and Przemyslaw Urbanczyk (eds.),Franks, Northmen, and Slavs: Identities and State Formation in Early Medieval Europe(Brepols, 2008) p. 98.
- ^"Kennsluleiðbeiningar".
- ^Þórgils fiskimaðr, Nordmand, 11 årh. (AI, 400-1, BI, 369).
- ^Þórarinn stuttfeldr, Islandsk skjald, 12. årh. (AI, 489-92, BI, 461-4).
Literature[edit]
This article contains content from theOwl EditionofNordisk familjebok,a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in thepublic domain.
- Ture Johnsson Arne.Austr i Karusm och Särklandsnamnet.InFornvännen 42,pp 290–305. Stockholm 1947.
- Sven B. F. Jansson.Runinskrifter i Sverige.Stockholm 1963.
- Carl L. Thunberg.Särkland och dess källmaterial.University of Gothenburg 2011.
- Carl L. Thunberg.Ingvarståget och dess monumentUniversity of Gothenburg 2010.
External links[edit]
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