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70
II. TH B SWEDISH PEOPLE.
the foundations of the actual Kingdom of Sweden. It is difficult to determine the
date of this event, but it was probably about A.D. 700. The kingdom of Sweden
as an undivided whole is thus, at the present moment, about 1,200 years old,
and is consequently older than any other state now existing in Europe.
The extent of the Swedish kingdom at that time, did not quite coincide with
that of Sweden at present; the most southern province, Skåne, belonged to
Denmark, as did also the province of Halland. The northernmost parts of Sweden,
too, were scarcely then taken possession of, only a few solitary Lapps finding
their scanty subsistence there.
The ancient Uppsala- or «Ynglinga»-dynasty ruled the kingdom of Sweden
uninterruptedly till about the year 1060. To this time belongs that period in
the history of the North which was so important to the whole of Europe and
which is called
the Yiking Period (A.D. 700/1060).
The inhabitants of the North had from times immemorial made voyages from
their extensive sea-coast to the neighbouring countries. But an improved method
of constructing their ships, which made it easier and safer to employ sails, caused
these voyages to be extended to far greater distances. From the close of the first
decade of the 8th century, the fleets of the Vikings swarmed round all the coasts
of Europe, as far as to the Straits of Gibraltar, where the mighty power of the
Moors set a limit to their advance, which had spread fright and horror wherever
else their ships appeared. At home, a forced service at sea was instituted, which,
rendering communication along the coast more easy, powerfully contributed to
hold together the kingdoms once formed. A lively intercourse had, from very
early times, existed between Sweden and the countries at the North Sea and
the Atlantic — as shown by runic monuments chiefly found in Vestergötland —
bnt still more lively was the communication with the countries round the Gulf
of Finland, where a numerous Swedish population had been established for some
thousands of years. The contact with the mother-country now became very much
livelier, and the trade with Asia, between the Baltic and the Caspian Seas, which
had arisen in the time of the Caliphate, enticed the Swedes (the Varingians) up the
great rivers, further and further into the eastern continent, whose loosely connected
tribes could not resist their march. By the year 862, the Varingians had founded
a dominion here, which, however, soon fell to pieces again; but in a short time
messengers came to Sweden — probably from the Swedes who had remained in the
East — demanding chiefs. It was then that Rörek (or Rurik), at the head of tall
the Rus» — i. e. the entire Swedish contingent of enlisted Sea-warriors of the east
coast (»Roslagen») — founded a dominion around Lake Ladoga and the city of
Novgorod, which from his warriors — crodsmännen» — gradually obtained the
name of Russia, and soon extended over the greater part of eastern Europe.
From thence, the Viking fleets pursued their way down to the Caspian, while
Swedish Varingians in great numbers offered their services to the Emperor of
Byzantium, and to the King of Georgia.
The expeditions of the Vikings accelerated in a high degree the introduction
of Christianity into the North. In the year 829, St. Ansgarius came to Sweden,
sent by the king of the Franks. The Christian mission which was founded by
him in the heart of the country, at the royal town of Birka, on an island of
Lake Mälaren, could not survive, however, surrounded as it was on all sides by
pagan territory. The great House of Gods in Uppsala was too near; as
high-priests who directed the sacrifices there, the kings could not be favourably disposed
towards a doctrine which threatened the very foundations of their dominion.
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