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Scandinavia and the huns : a source-critical approach to an old question Näsman

Scandinavia and the huns : a source-critical approach to an old question Näsman, Ulf Fornvännen 2008(103):2, s. [111]-118 : ill. http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/fornvannen/html/2008_111 Ingår i: samla.raa.se That the Huns played a significant role in ‘the Transformation of the Roman World’ is not con - troversial. A number of monographs have been devoted to the fascinating history of this no - madic people (Thompson 1948; Maenchen-Hel - fen 1973; 1978; Germanen, Hunnen und Awa ren 1987; Bóna 1991; Anke 1998; Ščukin et al. 2006; Anke & Externbrink 2007). In syntheses of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, the Huns take their proper place at the end of the Roman Iron Age as those who triggered the Migration Period (Brøndsted 1960, p. 120 f, 179 f; Stenberger 1964, p. 446 ff; Magnus & Myhre 1986, p. 244 ff; Burenhult 1999, p. 287 f; Sol- bjerg 2000, pp. 69, 124; Jensen 2004, p. 12 ff.). In my own doctoral thesis I wrote a chapter on “The import of glass vessels to Scandinavia in the Hunnic period c. 375–454” (1984, p. 147 f). There I concluded that the Huns’ conquest of south-eastern Europe did not sever communica- tions between Scandinavia and the Danubian basin. A new dimension to Hunnic influence in Scandinavia was presented by Charlotte Fabech (1991) in her interpretation of the Sösdala finds and others as evidence of Hunnic influence on funerary rituals in south Sweden. But it has to be remembered that those finds only cover one generation and that they are only found in a small area. The lasting effects of the Hunnic impact on Scandinavia were indirect; i.e. the consequences of the fall of the West Roman em - pire, the demographic changes in Eastern Eu - rope, and the appearance of the so-called succes- sor states (Heather 2005; Ward-Perkins 2005). It was thus with great interest and expecta- tion that I red a paper by Lotte Hedeager (2007a) in which she puts forward a new hy pothesis about “Scandinavia and the Huns”. As always, it is a well written and interesting paper, filled with new ideas and interpretations. In the intro- duction she makes elegant use of the concepts of the Annales School: événements, la longue du rée et conjunctures. But it is an exaggeration to say that Scandinavian archaeologists have neglected Hun - nic elements in the North (Hedeager 2007b). As I will demonstrate in the following, Hunnic ele- ments are not easy to find. The Baltic Islands and the Huns Hedeager is convinced that “the Huns’ supre - macy included parts of Scandinavia” (s. 44). This conclusion is based on a quote from a conversa- tion between the West Roman ambassador Ro - mulus and the East Roman envoy Priscus. Ro - mu lus said that “[Attila] ruled even the islands of the Ocean” (Priscus fr. 8, see Doblhofer 1955). Now, this is not supported by any other evi- dence. So one can simply reject it as too uncer- tain, or accept it as it is. Romulus probably be - lieved what he said. So have later scholars and some include the Baltic islands in the realm of Attila. But it is sound scholarly procedure to be critical of narrative sources. I see no reason to believe with Hedeager that Romulus held “a com petent geographical knowledge”. In my doc - to ral thesis I emphasised not the geographical but the social setting of the situation (1984, p. 99 f): “The success of the Huns and Attila in par- ticular made a deep impression on the Scan- dinavian peoples during the Migration peri- od. We realise the role Huns and "Atle" play in the Nordic sagas, especially the Hervarar Saga. But this does not mean that we have any reason to believe that the king of the Huns ever controlled land in the north. "Hun" finds are very rare in Northern Europe (Werner 1956; Arrhenius 1982) and the Hun army has hardly been able to con- trol the forested regions north of the Carpathians. Fornvännen 103 (2008) Debatt Scandinavia and the Huns A source-critical approach to an old question Debatt:Layout 1 08-06-16 08.45 Sida 111 Probably we have to interpret the in - formation we get from Priscus in another way. Troops came from Scandinavia to win honour, fame, and wealth in the armies of Attila and his allied Germanic-speaking sub- kings. To be accepted, I guess that the lea- ders of the Scandinavians had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Hun ruler. This oath has been transferred to the area they came from, “the islands of the Ocean.” In this way Attila can have imagined that the Baltic islands were constituents of his realm.” Attila may have claimed hegemony over the islands in the Ocean, but in reality it is unlikely that any Hun ever went there. The Archaeological Record of Scandinavia In her search for Huns in the archaeological record, Hedeager presents up-to-date theory but her factual reasoning is disappointing. It is not true that Roman goods stopped from the late fourth century (p. 46). It is true that burial cus- toms changed and left archaeologists without a record of Roman imports in Denmark. But oth- er parts of Scandinavia saw continued rich fune - 112 Debatt Fornvännen 103 (2008) Fig. 1. Decontextualised gold rings from Denmark. Diame- ter 20–30 mm. After Hedea- ger 2007a. Debatt:Layout 1 08-06-16 08.45 Sida 112 rary customs. In many rich graves of the 5th cen- tury we find imports from former Roman work- shops, now under Barbaric control. In fact, some of the most eloquently Roman objects date to the fifth century. Most convincingly we can fol- low the process of imitatio Imperii and interpreta- tio Scandinavica in the gold bracteates. The earli- est ones are imitations of Roman imperial medallions and gold coins, but the pictorial pro- gramme soon changes to adapt to Nordic myths and beliefs. Contrary to Hedeager, I see close contacts between Scandinavia and the late Ro - man world in the archaeological record of the 5th century. Earrings and Huns Ten gold rings from Denmark and Norway fi- gure prominently in Hedeager’s argument (fig. 1). They belong to a crescent-shaped type, open with pointed ends and a thickened middle. Ac - cording to Hedeager they are Hunnic earrings and were not recognised as such by Joachim Wer - ner (1956). However, the similarity between ear- rings from Hunnic finds and the Danish rings is illusory and based upon the lack of scale. Any- one familiar with earrings and finger rings from c. 1000–1200 would be suspicious. When I took part in the excavations of the settlement fort at Eketorp on Öland, we found rings in silver and gilded bronze that look like the Danish rings 14/82, C1419 and 11/38 referred to by Hedeager. But they were not found in the context of the Migration Period fort. They belong to the Me - dieval phase of the fort, possibly dating from 1170–1240 (Borg 1998, p. 277). In fact, similar rings are common in Late Viking Period and Medieval Scandinavia. Unfortunately, all of the Danish rings He - deager discusses are decontextualised. None is known to have been found in wetlands like so many of the Migration Period gold finds. This observation makes Hedeager resort to a post- processual argument that the rings “held a differ- ent position to other gold artefacts” (p. 48). This is true, but not in the way Hedeager suggests. The Danish rings are simple and do not offer the archaeologist many typological traits to stu - dy. But some observations can be made. Mea - suring 20–30 mm, the rings are all larger than any nomadic earrings I have encountered (c. 11–18 mm). They all lack a typical “pot-belly”, as seen on one from a multi-ethnic Migration Period cemetery at Saint Martin de Fontenay in northern France that has been ascribed to a nomadic presence (fig. 2; Pilet 1994). This shape is rare, and most of the rings look like French croissants or German Hörnchen. Hedeager would have been wise to look for other possible origins 113 Debatt Fornvännen 103 (2008) Fig. 2. A Migration Period silver ring of Nomadic ‘pot-bellied’ type from a multi- ethnic cemetery at Saint Martin de Fonte- nay in northern France. Diameter 12 mm. After Anke & Externbrink 2007, p. 321. Fig. 3. Gold rings from an 11th century hoard found at Nore in Vamlingbo parish, Gotland (SHM 5279). Diameter 27 and 28 mm. Debatt:Layout 1 08-06-16 08.45 Sida 113 than the Huns, for instance, in the stores of the National Museum in Copenhagen. There you will find a number of similar rings from good con- texts, some in well dated hoards (Lindahl 1992, p. 136 f)1. Doing a quick search on-line (mis.his - toriska.se/mis/sok), I found a number of gold and silver earrings and finger rings, many from well dated contexts, in Museum of National Antiqui- ties in Stockholm (fig. 3)2. The Danish and Swedish finds confirm the dating of the Eketorp rings to the uploads/Litterature/ scandinavia-and-the-huns.pdf