The Varangian Ballad
“Five brothers sailed through the rapids and one of them, Ravn, perished by a rapid called Aifur... The brothers set up two stones in his memory, to the south of Rufstain,” read the runes on a small stone stele erected in the times of old by the lagoon Bogeviken on Gotland Island. Outwardly an ordinary saga, the story should be of interest to Ukrainian researchers, considering that the Vikings gave the name Aifur to one of the Dnieper rapids currently known as Nenasytets, the Insatiable Rapid. Likewise, Rufstain is also known as Rvany Kamin, the Torn Rock. At present, a copy of the runic stele (the original, dating from the 9th century AD, is the oldest stone monument to Viking travels in the East) is displayed at the National History Museum of Ukraine as part of the exposition “Vikings on the Eastern Trail” organized in Kyiv by the State History Museum of Sweden in collaboration with the Swedish Institute, Swedish embassy in Ukraine, Ministry of Culture and Art of Ukraine, National Academy’s Institute of Archaeology, and the National History Museum.
Scandinavian runic stones of the Viking epoch (8th to the early 12th cc.) are not only precious historic evidence requiring painstaking decoding efforts, but also works of art, the severe beauty of which can now be appreciated by every visitor. Runes form sophisticated and at the same time restrained patterns, often shaped as a long serpent playing with its coils. Many Swedish runic stones portray stories about Vikings traveling along the road “from the Varangians to the Greeks” [as described in Kyiv Rus’ chronicles], including Rus’-Ukraine territories. One such stone was erected by the seafaring warriors on Berezan Island. Its copy is included in the exposition.
Swedish researchers employ the latest technologies to preserve memories of the ancient past. Copies of runic stones made by Paterik Stocklassa can hardly be told from the originals. They play with as many colors and boast the same texture, albeit made from plastics and empty inside. Mr. Stocklassa says this technology is used in making sports vessels. These copies are quite strong but weigh many times less than the original steles, so they are very easy to transport. Thus, the original runic stone with the story about the brothers weighs some 100 kg and its copy on display only five kilos.
Organizing an exhibit about Vikings, a short period in Ukrainian history that numbers many centuries, might seem extravagant, what with the giant shadows of Scythians, Sarmatians, and Trypillia people, but we tried to tell about the mutual influence of Viking and Rus’ cultures, remind of the old ties between our countries, said °)xp Ake Peterson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Ukraine. Whereas the runic stones represented the ancient Swedish view of Ukraine, the Ukrainian side reciprocated by displaying weapons, pieces of jewelry, and other articles unearthed on the Viking burial sites by the ancient settlement of Divycha Hora (Cherkasy oblast), Shestovytsia, and Kyiv. Recent (1998- 2000) archaeological finds on the site of St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. Sophia Square, and Velyka Zhytomyrska St. are especially interesting. “The druzhyna [retinue in Old Rus’] style was very syncretic,” says Academician Petro Tolochko, director of the Institute of Archaeology. “I can’t always be sure whether a given object belonged to a Varangian or Rusych.”
Those present at the ceremony of opening the exhibit saw what a true Viking looked like. Lars Holmblad, staff member of the State Historical Museum of Sweden, was clad and made up as one and it transpired that our concept of the Vikings was misleading in certain respects. Mr. Holmblad said neither he nor his colleagues had ever come across a Viking helmet with horns. Apparently, an artist’s invention.
The Swedish runes have been displayed in Tartu, Tallinn, and Mensk. The exposition will travel to Russia soon, but the copy of the stele with the story about the Viking brothers that dared the Dnieper rapids will remain at the National History Museum, courtesy of sponsors, Swedish companies Volvo, Eriksson, Scania, and De Laval, as a reminder of the legendary militant seafarers.
