Marie Bønløkke Spejlborg
In the catalogue for the 1981–1982 exhibition in Copenhagen and York, The Vikings in England and in their Danish Homeland, the Keeper of the National Antiquities of Denmark, Olaf Olsen, discussed the evidence for an English presence and influence in Denmark during the Viking period:
If we look towards Denmark, to see the effects of events in England on the home country, we are confronted by a profound darkness … Yet – when the eye accustoms itself to the gloom, we can begin to discern some misty contours of events, which, in their time, must have been of the greatest significance to the entire Danish community.1
With the exception of some runic and numismatic material, and a few archaeological finds of Anglo-Saxon origin, Olsen notes that the rich historical and linguistic evidence available for the study of the Vikings in England is not reflected, or at least not significantly so, in the Viking homelands; indeed, the archaeological traces of connections with England were so few that it caused him to question the ability of archaeology to afford insights into historical events.2 Much research has gone into the question of Scandinavian influence in Viking Age England, demonstrating the great impact that Scandinavian activities had on many areas and levels of English society, from the raids of the great army in the late ninth century, through to the Scandinavian settlements, the Danish conquests of the eleventh century, and the reign of Cnut the Great.3 The situation is markedly different when we turn our attention towards Scandinavia and the question of English influence there. The evidence attesting English connections within Scandinavia in the early and middle Viking period is highly fragmented and almost exclusively takes the form of archaeological artefacts. Most are found in Norway, though evidence of contact is present in Denmark as well.4 As to the question of an English presence and influence in Denmark during the reigns of Cnut the Great and his sons, a little more is known. This chapter seeks to provide an overview of existing research and evidence relating to this question, whilst offering new perspectives and insight.
Early English Influence on Denmark: Research Overview
The first definitive historical study of early English influence on Denmark remains Ellen Jørgensen’s pioneering work on foreign influences on the medieval Danish church, published in 1908.5 The greatest scholarly interest has been drawn to the study of English influence in the process of Christianization, from mission to church organization.6 Although Jørgensen’s work is an invaluable resource and includes a diversity of foreign influences, it is very much the result of a generation of historical writings rather too concerned with national narratives and the position of nations within the world.7 Since then, English material in the Danish context has been treated primarily by Niels Lund in various studies of the later Viking period.8 His focus is often on Danish activities in England, whereas the situation in Denmark receives little attention; however, Lund has repeatedly demonstrated that significant contacts traversed the North Sea into the late eleventh century.9 More recently, the interests and perspectives of global history have brought a renewed interest in networks, migration, and cultural exchange. Of central significance here is a study by Timothy Bolton on English political refugees in mid-eleventh-century Denmark. Bolton convincingly demonstrates the value of tracing the movements of individuals, as well as how English written material can highlight events that had an impact on Denmark, even when we cannot determine the exact nature of that impact.10
In this way, the archaeological record of English connections in Viking Age Denmark has improved significantly, and especially for the eleventh century, since Olsen wrote his chapter on “The English in Denmark.”11 The evidence now includes not only indications of the bonds between royalty, aristocracy, and the Church, but also humbler objects that tell a story of connections otherwise unknown. In contrast to Olsen’s rather bleak conclusion from the 1980s, Else Roesdahl argued in 2007 “that there is ample evidence for contact across the North Sea during the eleventh century and that such contacts affected all levels of society.”12 Examples of this include coins, warrior equipment, metalwork, and urban development, all of which will be discussed in further detail below.
The improved picture of Anglo-Danish material culture merits a new look at the historical sources. From there it is possible to identify some of the people, both groups and individuals, who were active in bringing about the imports and influences demonstrated by the material evidence. It is face-to-face meetings between people that form the basis for cultural exchange – and for change.
Danish Connections with England before 1016
If archaeologists working on the 1981–1982 exhibition The Vikings in England were frustrated with the lack of evidence for the effects in Denmark of the Danish conquests in England, the historians were, for their part, practically silent. Written sources illuminating the effects of Danish activities in England back on the homelands are extremely fragmentary. There is no Danish annalistic material to link activities at home to those abroad, and the English sources show little or no interest in Denmark before the year 1000. There are no sources similar to the letters of Alcuin or sermons of Wulfstan that can tell of the Danish response to the Viking activities and conquests, nothing to inform us of the thoughts, motivations, or even actions of those who fought in the English campaigns – or of those who returned home. What is available are a few runic inscriptions, most of them from outside the area of medieval Denmark, recording the death of men who fought in England and the fortunes of some of those who returned from there.13 Coin legends list the names of English moneyers working in Denmark, and some English and Continental sources show an occasional interest in the Danes, but always from a non-Danish and often critical perspective.14
While the dearth of evidence is certainly a challenge for anyone working on the history of early medieval Scandinavia, close readings and the careful analysis of written sources do afford some information. Admittedly, only very few sources provide direct and unequivocal evidence for an English influence on Denmark. A study of English contact with and influence on Denmark must rely instead on occasional references to people who moved between the two countries. Periods of high Anglo-Danish interaction, such as the reign of Cnut the Great, are well-attested, as are references to the most prominent travelers between England and Denmark, especially kings and bishops. Written material also attests to a network of Anglo-Danish contacts throughout the late Viking period and spanning several layers of society. This material also enables a closer dating of some sets of connections than most of the archaeological finds can provide. On the whole, English influence on Denmark can be explained by King Cnut’s access to various English markets and institutions as king of England. Written sources, however, clearly state that numerous connections were already in place before his reign (1016–1035).
The late Viking Age saw significant imports of foreign silver coinage to Scandinavia. German coins make up the larger part, but of central interest here is the influx of Anglo-Saxon coins during the first half of the eleventh century, evidenced in Scandinavian hoards. Although it is difficult to connect any one hoard found within the boundaries of medieval Denmark with the payments of Danegeld extorted by Viking war leaders and kings, there can be no doubt that the high proportion of Anglo-Saxon coins in Denmark at this time is connected to these activities – that is to say, to people returning to Denmark after engaging in raiding (and trading) across the North Sea.
Nevertheless, it is evident that the period of Viking attacks prior to the establishment of Anglo-Danish rule did not form a barrier for the import of trained English personnel to Denmark. Just before the year 1000, while Danish fleets were engaged in several raids in England, the Danish king, Sveinn Forkbeard, imported an English moneyer, Godwine, and an English bishop, Gotebald, to Denmark.15 Adam of Bremen’s entries on Gotebald, whose name does not, however, appear to be English, state only that he arrived from England and was appointed to teach in Skåne.16 Nothing further is revealed about his function or which church he entered, if indeed there was one. The relatively early date of Gotebald’s appointment, as well as Adam’s mention of teaching, makes it likely that his duties were mainly missionary and itinerant and that he may have been joined by other English clerics. Church-building was underway in Denmark already in the early years of the 1000s, and English contacts (both elite and ecclesiastical) were an active part in this process.17
Sveinn’s earliest coinage, bearing the king’s name, was struck in Lund ca. 995 and adopted from the English crux type. The legend on the obverse reads, “+ ZVEN REX AD DENER” (Sven king of the Danes), and on the reverse, + GODǷINE M-AN DNER (Godwine moneyer of the Danes) – clearly an English name.18 Sveinn Forkbeard died on February 3, 1014, barely weeks after his conquest of England. The appointment of English bishops and moneyers in Denmark before his victory indicates that he was nonetheless able to make contacts with well-developed English institutions. As argued later in this volume by Caitlin Ellis (p. 365), neither Sveinn nor Cnut after him was concerned by the apparent conflict in establishing a church at home while attacking Christians abroad.
Additional early connections to England are evident in the story of Sveinn’s death and burial in the Encomium Emmae Reginae. The anonymous author relates how the body of Sveinn was taken to Denmark for reburial by “quaedam matronarum Anglicarum” (a certain English matron).19 It is tempting to identify this unknown woman as Ælfgifu of Northampton, whom Cnut had married during his father’s English campaign.20 Ælfgifu would have had the right connections in both England and Denmark to carry out this act, but the evidence is no more than circumstantial. Whether she traveled with Sveinn’s body or not, she is likely to have left England, most likely for Denmark, soon after Sveinn’s death and its aftermath, the return of the English King Æthelred and the departure of the Danish fleet under the command of Cnut. At this point Ælfgifu would have been pregnant with Cnut’s child and may not have been safe in England.21 The Encomium Emmae further relates:
Mittens ergo utrisque fratribus nuntium mandate corpus adresse paternum, ut hoc maturent suscipere, tumuloque quod sibi parauerat locare. Illi hilares adsunt, honorifice corpus suscipiunt, honor-ificentiusque illud in monasterio in honore Sanctae Trinitatis ab eodem rege constructo, in sepulchro quod sibi parauerat, recondunt.
[Sending a messenger to the two brothers, she [the English matron] indicated that the body of their father was there, in order that they might hasten to receive it, and place it in the tomb which he had prepared for himself. They came gladly, and received the body with honour, and with yet more honour placed it in the monastery which the same king had built in honour of the Holy Trinity, in the sepulchre which he had prepared for himself.]22
Parts of this story correspond neatly with archaeological evidence from Lund. The first wooden church in town was the church of the Holy Trinity (also known as St. Drotten). This dedication, as well as the dedication of the like-named church in Roskilde, mirrors the dedication of the royal church in Winchester.23 The successor of the wooden church in Lund, a stone church with signs of Anglo-Saxon influence, has been dated to the 1020s and linked to Cnut the Great and to his English bishop Bernhard.24 The burials associated with Lund’s church of the Holy Trinity have been dated to the period 994–1053 (±5 years).25 Adam of Bremen’s note on the appointment of an English bishop to Skåne,26 the evidence of an English moneyer in Lund,27 and the account of Sveinn’s burial given by the Encomiast, cast some light on the identity of others, besides the king, who may have been involved in these developments.
Contacts Around the Time of Cnut’s Conquest
The event which would have had the most profound consequences for the Danish homelands, after the Danish conquest of England and Cnut Sveinsson’s accession to the English throne, was the disbanding of the Danish fleet in 1018. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that
On þisum geare wæs þæt gafol gelæst ofer eall Angelcynn―þæt wæs ealles twa ⁊ hundseofonti þusend punda, butan þam þe seo burhwaru on Lundene geald, endlifte healf þusend punda. ⁊ se here þa ferde sum to Denmarcon, 7.xl. scypa belifon mid þam cynge Cnute.28
[In this year tribute was paid over all England, namely 72,000 pounds in all, apart from what the citizens of London paid, namely ten and a half thousand pounds. Then some of the army went to Denmark, and forty ships remained with King Cnut.]
As the Chronicle does not say how many ships left, nor how many ships had made up the original fleet, it is impossible to ascertain how large an influx of ships and men from England arrived in Denmark in the aftermath of 1018.29 Nevertheless, taking into account the size of Viking Age ships dating from this period and the general consensus that late Viking Age fleets would have been considerably larger than those of the earlier period, it is reasonable to suppose that Cnut’s fleet must have sailed with a significant number of people.30
Here the evidence of the runestones offers a rare insight into the deeds and minds of those who journeyed with the Danish kings to England and later returned home. Only four runestones mentioning England are located within the boundaries of medieval Denmark.31 One stands in Norway,32 the rest in Sweden (especially Uppland).33 This paucity can be partly explained by the differing practices of erecting runic monuments across Scandinavia, while it seems plausible that people did travel from and return to Denmark, and that their experiences must have been similar to those commemorated in runic inscriptions from Sweden.34 It is generally agreed that runic monuments were a sign of social and economic status, and that both the sponsors and the commemorated were economically independent landholders.35 As such, they were in an excellent position to bring elements of their English experience home to influence life at the homestead.
The most famous of the English runestones is located in Yttergärde, Uppland, in Sweden. The inscription reads: “in ulfr hafiR o| |onklati ‘ þru kialt| |takat þit uas fursta þis tusti ka-t ‘ þ(a) – – (þ)urktil ‘ þa kalt knutr” (And Ulf has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Tosti paid. Then Thorkell paid. Then Cnut paid).36 Wherever a warrior like Ulf went and settled, the payment he took must have had an impact, otherwise the impetus for leaving home in the first place disappears. The arrival of an individual, most often a young man, with a large amount of silver is likely to have shifted the social and economic balance in a given area ― either through purchases of land, through increased trading activity, or through marriage contracts that demanded a sizable dowry or bride price. It is likely that, for many of the people who traveled to England with Cnut or other leaders, the journey became a mark of their identity. A good example of this is found on a stone raised by and for Alli in Väsby, Uppland: “al|i| |l|it raisa stain þino| |oftiR sik sialfan ‘ hon tuk| |knuts kialt a| |anklanti ‘ kuþ hialbi hons ant” (Alli had this stone raised in memory of himself. He took Cnut’s payment in England. May God help his spirit).37 It is clear that Alli wanted to be remembered as a man who had traveled to England with Cnut the Great. If those who returned home from the English campaigns wanted to be remembered in death for their participation there, it is reasonable to argue that they may also have wished to mark themselves in life.
Contacts Linked to the Travels of Cnut
It is important, however, to keep in mind that not all of those who joined Cnut’s fleet returned to Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that forty ships stayed with the king, and more men are likely to have stayed in England and received land there.38 These people do not, on the face of it, appear to have made an impact in Denmark, but it is evident that Anglo-Danish settlers in England are likely to have kept in close contact with people and places at home.39
Most prominent of the people who traveled back and forth is, of course, Cnut himself. Although he spent most of his time in England, Cnut visited Denmark on at least three occasions during his reign in England, usually at times of unrest. The first was in 1019, when he was presumably elected king. It was on this occasion that he traveled to Viborg with what appears to have been a large Anglo-Danish retinue.40 Cnut may also have returned to Denmark in 1022–1023, to deal with a threat from his most prominent earl, Thorkell the Tall,41 and again in 1026 on a visit which concluded with the Battle of Holy River, from where he went straight to Rome. Having returned to England from Rome in 1027, King Cnut visited Denmark a third time in 1028 in connection with the campaign against Óláfr Haraldsson. With the exception of the 1022–1023 visit, these journeys are recorded in letters sent by Cnut to his English subjects.42 Despite their political importance, it is difficult to assess whether Cnut’s visits to Denmark had any lasting impact on a cultural level. The king would have arrived with a retinue and an army, and thus it is possible that the splendor of the great Anglo-Danish king and his people influenced the style and tastes of the local elite; it may be argued, indeed, that the taste for Anglo-Saxon styles evident in the archaeological material could be linked to these movements.
Most important here are a number of swords and various pieces of riding gear, which have been ascribed to an Anglo-Scandinavian warrior milieu. Whereas most riding equipment of previous centuries was made of iron, harness-fittings of cast copper alloy appear from ca. 1000. This is a development observed on both sides of the North Sea, and the decorated stirrups, cheek-pieces, and strap mounts suggests a shared Anglo-Scandinavian warrior culture. Most finds are located in the Limfjord area, the first stop for fleets arriving in Denmark from England, with further distribution along the sea route to Sjælland and Skåne. Further examples are known from Sweden and Norway and a few from northern Germany. The very high proportion and density of finds around the Limfjord may be the result of a particularly active modern metal detecting community in that region. On the other hand, the general distribution of finds along the major sea routes between east and west appears to reflect actual patterns of transmission. While some of the pieces are finely made, on many the details seem poorly executed, and the numbers in which they have been found in England suggest that these were not exclusively elite items. Instead of communicating a specific socioeconomic status, it is more likely that they signalled the ownership of a specific group with connections and activities on both sides of the North Sea.43 It is a reasonable assumption that this was a group of warriors associated with King Cnut, especially as the style of many of these objects points to southern England, an area closely connected with Cnut.44 The finer artefacts might then be associated with the men closest to the Anglo-Danish king, such as his earls and housecarls, while the lesser pieces may well have belonged to people who had joined the king’s fleets and subsequently settled in England or returned home.45
The number and relative short duration of Cnut’s visits to Denmark should not mask the fact that the king was highly involved with Denmark and played an active role in bringing English experts, customs, and techniques to his homeland, including in the fields of Church and economy.46 The appointment by Sveinn of the bishop Gotebald in ca. 999 has already been mentioned. Sveinn’s ecclesiastical policies were continued by Cnut, whose reign provided new conditions for the transfer of ecclesiastical personnel from England to Denmark. According to Adam of Bremen, Cnut appointed three English bishops to Denmark in around 1020–1022:
Victor Chnut ab Anglia rediens, in ditione sua per multos annos regnum Daniae possedit et Angliae. Quo tempore episcopos ab Anglia multos adduxit in Daniam. De quibus Bernardum posuit in Sconiam, Gerbrandum in Seland, Reginbertum in Fune.
[Cnut returned victorious from England and for many years held in his power the kingdoms of Denmark and England. At that time, he introduced many bishops from England into Denmark. Of these he placed Bernhard over Skåne, Gerbrand over Sjælland, Reginbert over Fyn.]47
From the way Adam phrases this episode, it seems that Bernhard, Gerbrand, and Reginbert were not the only bishops brought from England by Cnut, but rather three among many. As it was not in Adam’s interest to exaggerate the interference of other powers in what he saw as the rightful province of the Hamburg-Bremen see, we might trust his word on this. It is also possible to identify at least one other bishop who was trained in England and appointed to a Danish see in the time of Cnut, namely Odinkar in the see of Ribe.48
Outside the Church, and in addition to Anglo-Saxon coins making their way across the North Sea as the result of Danegeld or trade, Scandinavians in the late Viking period took to the minting of Anglo-Saxon imitative coinages (that is, coins struck in Scandinavia but closely imitating English models, and sometimes including the names of English kings). From the tenth century onwards, coin-dies were transported from England to Scandinavia and a number of extensive die-chains link English and Scandinavian mints into large networks.49 With the dies came English moneyers, and Danish coins dated to the period ca. 995–1085 name close to ninety moneyers whose names are English or can in some way be linked to England.50 A pen-case lid ornamented in Winchester style found in Lund and featuring the inscription “Leofwine me fecit” (Leofwine made me) has been interpreted as the possession of one such moneyer.51
The moneyers were largely associated with the emerging urban centres of Denmark and the development of some of these towns themselves appears to be closely linked to the reign of Cnut and the connections across the North Sea. Most notable are Viborg, Roskilde, and Lund: all were church centres with strong royal connections and well-established trading links.52 In Lund, Viborg, Lejre, and Roskilde, archaeologists have found pottery of the Torksey and Stamford-ware types.53 Petrological analysis of the fragments found in Lund and Lejre has shown that these were not imports from England, but pots produced from local clay, which must therefore have been produced in Denmark.54 In Viborg, local ware with Torksey style decorations has been identified.55 Whether the craftsmen were English settlers in Denmark or Danes who had learned the craft in England and brought it back home is unknown, but the Stamford-ware of early medieval Denmark is clear evidence for the movement of people from England to Denmark at the lower levels of society. These may have traveled as part of the households of members of the elite (possibly English bishops and moneyers), or made their way to Denmark of their own accord.
Lund, Roskilde, and Viborg housed a significantly higher number of parish churches than other early Danish towns: Viborg had thirteen, Roskilde fourteen, and Lund twenty-two. In comparison, Ribe and Schleswig had between six and eight, while Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg each had only three. This disparity has been ascribed to a higher degree of English influence in Lund, Roskilde, and Viborg, and has been compared to the case of York, Norwich, and London, towns which had forty-seven, fifty-six, and more than one hundred churches respectively.56 This hypothesis is supported by the case of St. Clement’s Church (now Skt. Jørgensbjerg) in Roskilde. Below the present-day church, dated to ca. 1070–1120, archaeologists have excavated the remains of the foundations of an older church.57 A small coin hoard found in the foundations has been dated to the period 1029–1035.58 The building consequently falls firmly within the reign of Cnut the Great, and is the earliest example of masonry found in Denmark. The church, moreover, exhibits clear architectural links with Anglo-Saxon England; the building techniques and decorations are so close to contemporary English styles that the church must have been built by English masons.59
Anglo-Danish Settlers Returning Home
As demonstrated above, while the presence and actions of an Anglo-Danish king were certainly important for the transfer of English influence to Denmark, other actors were involved as well. At the highest level of society, just below the king, the written material reveals cases in which men with significant experience in England were appointed as earls in Denmark. In 1023 Cnut entrusted Denmark to Thorkell the Tall, a man who had been a significant player in English politics for more than ten years.60 It is generally assumed that Thorkell was married to an Englishwoman of high birth, perhaps even of royal blood, who was the widow either of Ulfcytel of East Anglia, or of Eadric Streona.61 Thorkell must also have been in possession of a large household, perhaps including a household priest, as well as a military following. Many of these may have followed him to Denmark. In addition, one of Cnut’s sons was at least promised to Thorkell’s care.62 Thorkell is thus an example of a powerful magnate with significant English experience who settled in Denmark with an Anglo-Danish following. Thorkell’s place of settlement in Denmark is unknown, although his family probably came from Skåne. As the regent of Denmark he is likely, in any case, to have traveled widely within the kingdom. However, it is possible to speculate that some of the strong English influence which is evident in the early Danish towns could be related to Thorkell, just as aspects of the English influence in Roskilde have been connected to the presence there of Úlfr, who had replaced Thorkell by 1026. Úlfr was married to Cnut’s sister Ástríðr or Estrith, and before his appointment in Denmark Úlfr had been in England: Adam of Bremen names him “dux Angliae.”63 It seems as though Úlfr had some English experience, and his place in the Anglo-Danish network is likely to have been similar to Thorkell’s. In 1026 Úlfr was killed on the orders of Cnut for his role in a plot against the king at the battle of Holy River.64 The Chronicon Roskildense recounts that the murder took place in the church in Roskilde when Úlfr was attending matins, adding that Estrith gave her husband an honorable funeral and then had the old wooden church replaced with a new one built in stone.65 For this job she is likely to have called on English masons; her church must have been – or must have been closely connected to – St. Clement’s Church (now Skt. Jørgensbjerg) in Roskilde.66
Alongside the movements of king, earls, and their respective retinues from England to Denmark, other members of the Anglo-Danish elite moved independently. Some of these were Danes who had settled in England but were unsuccessful as landholders there and decided to return home. Two such unfortunates are encountered in the Ramsey Chronicle, compiled ca. 1170: on at least two occasions, Bishop Æthelric of Dorchester was able to buy land back from Danes who had received it from Cnut after the conquest. According to the chronicle, these Danes left England out of fear, and in one case the background story is provided. The Danish landholder, who had previously married an English widow of property, treated his English workers so badly that they opposed him and he became afraid for his life.67 The Ramsey Chronicle does not specify the destination of the exile, but given that all the events described took place before Bishop Æthelric’s death in 1034, and given that the man in question is called a Dane, it seems likely that he returned to his homeland. Whether he brought his English wife and (part of) his Anglo-Danish household home with him is more uncertain, but he, and others like him, are likely to have carried new knowledge, technology, customs, and materials from England to Denmark.
One of the areas in which people arriving in Denmark from England during the eleventh century could have been active was as founders of early proprietary churches in Denmark, in rural as well as urban environments. They and their networks would have been excellent channels for English influence on Denmark, in such areas as church foundations and the cults of saints.68 The returned settlers, from the earls to the middle- and lower-ranking landholders, together with their households, may also account for some of the personal ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish style of varying quality found in Denmark. The larger part of Cnut’s men who were granted land in England had settled in the south and east of the country, which corresponds well with the source distribution patterns for the Anglo-Danish jewelry finds in Denmark.69 The fact that these finds include not only a number of fine enamel brooches, but much simpler dress ornaments as well, some in the form of hooked-tags of copper-alloy, demonstrates that connections to England were not entirely limited to the warrior class.70 These artefacts may be connected to similar examples from East Anglia and the south-east of England.71 The enamel brooches may have been trade objects catering for the taste of the Anglo-Danish elite in Denmark. They are unlikely to have been locally produced. The detailed knowledge, intensive workmanship, and specialized skills needed for this type of work means that late Viking Age cloisonné enamel brooches in Denmark are all considered to be imports.72 As in the case of Scandinavian brooches found in England, it is worth contemplating whether these were objects of trade or whether they arrived in Denmark on the garments of a traveler.73 While the enamel brooches are evidence of elite exchange, the humbler copper-, tin-, and lead-alloy ornaments relate to lower socioeconomic strata, and thus mirror the finds of riding gear.
Conclusion: Anglo-Danes in Denmark
For a time during the first half of the eleventh century, Anglo-Saxon objects, styles, and technologies entered Denmark. This influence was linked to the elite, and most likely to people connected with King Cnut. The potters working in Viborg, Roskilde, and Lund are the obvious exception, but lead-glazed pottery was not for everyone; the contacts that brought these people to Denmark must have been controlled by the higher levels of society. Similarly, the lower-standard jewelry was most likely either the result of a trickle-down effect affecting fashion in certain areas of Denmark, or they were the possessions of lower-status people who had arrived with those of higher status. The fact that much of the archaeological evidence found in Denmark has counterparts in England and is interpreted as belonging to one group points to an active network spanning the North Sea, whose actors displayed a specific Anglo-Danish (or Anglo-Scandinavian) culture.
The textual evidence for the impact of Cnut’s English reign in Denmark is scanty and fragmented. Nevertheless, when compared with the growing quantity of archaeological evidence, it does afford us some insights into how the English elements found on Danish soil ended up where they did. To paraphrase Olsen, there is a light in the darkness that catches the eye of anyone trying to gauge the impact of the Viking activities in England on the Danish homelands. The period surrounding Cnut’s conquest of England was the most intense for English contacts in Denmark. This is evident in the number and variety of people who traveled across the North Sea: the members of Cnut’s army who returned to Scandinavia after the successful campaign; the earls who had interests and positions on both sides in both England and Denmark; and the people who initially settled in England but later returned home. The travels of many of these individuals would have led to the movement of other people, including wives, retinues, servants, and more. Through the written sources, it is possible to follow the movements of people, some named, others unknown, back and forth across the North Sea.
Just as the policies of Cnut drew on the traditions of both Denmark and England,74 the links between these people created a network of Anglo-Danish contacts which formed the channels through which goods, ideas, and technologies moved freely across the North Sea. Although the network centered around Cnut, who was instrumental in its manifestation, the developments seen in Denmark at this time, and reflected in the archaeological record, cannot be explained by the king alone. This was a collective effort. In addition, his period saw the intensification, and perhaps formalization, of some of the connections which had been initiated by his father Sveinn Forkbeard, such as the employment of English moneyers and ecclesiastics in Denmark. Similarly, the reign of Cnut laid the foundation for Anglo-Danish contact during later periods. It was at this time that many families of Danish and English origin were joined through intermarriage. A number of Danish settlers who had received land from Cnut were later to return home, and the forty ships which had remained with Cnut in England formed a force which would continue to diminish across the following decades, as ships and crews slowly returned to Denmark. These were people with considerable English experience and connections that helped to extend the English presence and influence in Denmark long beyond the reign of Cnut the Great.
Map B: Denmark, Norway, Sweden in Cnut’s reign (1016–1035).
Notes
1
Olsen, “The English in Denmark,” 171.
2
Olsen, “The English in Denmark,” 171–75.
3
See, for example, Hadley and Richards, Cultures in Contact; Richards, Viking Age England; Graham-Campbell, Vikings and the Danelaw; Hadley, The Vikings in England; Rumble, The Reign of Cnut; Lawson, Cnut: England’s Viking King; Bolton, Empire of Cnut the Great.
4
Wamers, “Insular Finds in Viking Age Scandinavia”; Heen-Pettersen, “Insular Artefacts from Viking-Age Burials from Mid-Norway”; Sawyer, “English Influence on the Development of the Norwegian Kingdom”; Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 44–47.
5
Jørgensen, Fremmed Indflydelse.
6
Abrams, “The Anglo-Saxons and the Christianization of Scandinavia.” See also Abrams, “Eleventh-Century Missions”; Abrams, “England, Normandy, and Scandinavia”; Brink, “The Formation of the Scandinavian Parish”; Brink, “New Perspectives on the Christianization of Scandinavia and the Organisation of the Early Church”; King, “English Influence on the Church at Odense in the Early Middle Ages”; King, “The Cathedral Priory of Odense in the Middle Ages”; Bergsagel, “Songs for St. Knud the King.”
7
See also Jørgensen, Helgendyrkelse i Danmark, 175; Jørgensen, “Bidrag til ældre nordisk Kirke- og Litteraturhistorie.” See also Bolton in this volume, pp. 459–84.
8
See for example Niels Lund, “The Danish Perspective”; Lund, “Ville Knud den Store gøre Roskilde til Ærkesæde?”; Lund, “Cnut the Great and His Empire.”
9
See, for example, Lund, De hærger og de brænder; Lund, “Cnut’s Danish Kingdom.”
10
Bolton, “English Political Refugees at the Court of King Sveinn Ástríðarson.” See also Münster-Swendsen, “Educating the Danes.” For studies of linguistic influence see Gammeltoft and Holck, “Gemstēn and Other Old English Pearls”; Gammeltoft and Holck, “Regionalitet og sproglig kontakt i vikingetid og middelalder.”
11
For an overview see Roesdahl, “Denmark-England in the Eleventh Century”; Pedersen, Anglo-Danish Contact Across the North Sea.
12
Roesdahl, “Denmark-England in the Eleventh Century,” 27.
13
Jesch, Ships and Men, 69–77; Jansson, Swedish Vikings in England.
14
Hauberg, Myntforhold og udmyntninger i Danmark indtil 1146; Spejlborg, “There and Back Again.”
15
Steen Jensen, Tusindtallets danske mønter, 22–23.
16
Gesta Hammaburgensis, ed. Schmeidler, 101 (II.xxxix, schol. 26 [27]). Adam of Bremen: History, trans. Tschan, 82. There are no entries for “Gotebald” (nor any for “Godb(e)ald,” “Geatb(e)ald,” “Geot(b(e)ald”) in the Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England: http://pase.ac.uk/jsp/index.jsp.
17
Roesdahl, “Hvornår Blev Kirkerne Bygget?”; Cinthio, “Trinitatiskyrkan i Lund”; Carelli, “Lunds äldsta kyrkogård”; Spejlborg, “Anglo-Danish Connections and the Organisation of the Early Danish Church.”
18
Steen Jensen, Tusindtallets danske mønter, 22.
19
Encomium, ed. Campbell, 18 (II.3).
20
Howard, Swein Forkbeard’s Invasions, 137, n. 75; Williams, Æthelred the Unready, 127; Bolton, “Ælfgifu of Northampton,” 259.
21
Bolton, “Ælfgifu of Northampton,” 260.
22
Encomium, ed. Campbell, 18 (II.3).
23
See Ellis in this volume, p. 364.
24
Cinthio, “Trinitatiskyrkan i Lund,” 122.
25
Carelli, “Lunds äldsta kyrkogård,” 61.
26
The Chronicon Roskildense also contains a story of Sveinn appointing bishops and building churches in Skåne, although details differ: “Chronicon Roskildense,” VI.
27
See below, p. 347.
28
ASC (D), ed. Cubbin, 63 (s.a. 1018).
29
Various uncertainties have led to different estimates as to the size of late Viking Age ships and crews. Peter Sawyer has argued that the ships of Sveinn and Cnut could have been manned by a crew of at least sixty men. Simon Keynes has arrived at a figure of sixty-five men per ship and M. K. Lawson has assessed the ships to have carried approximately eighty rowers and one steersman Naval historian N. A. M. Rodger has arrived at a figure of approximately one hundred men on average per ship. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 131–32; Lawson, “The Collection of Danegeld and Heregeld,” 721–38; Keynes, The Diplomas of King Æthelred “the Unready,” 225; Rodger, “Cnut’s Geld and the Size of Danish Ships,” 401–2.
30
Williams, The Viking Ship, 63; Bill, “Roskilde 6”; Crumlin-Pedersen and Olsen, The Skuldelev Ships; Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 131–32.
31
Jacobsen and Moltke, Danmarks Runeindskrifter, DR 3, DR 6, DR 266, DR 337.
32
Olsen, Norges Innskrifter med de yngre Runer, N 184.
33
Söderberg, Sveriges Runinskrifter, U 194, U 241, U 344, U 504, U 539, U 616, U 668, U 812, U 978, U 1181, Sö 14, Sö 46, Sö 53, Sö 55, Sö 62, Sö 83, Sö 106, Sö 137, Sö 159, Sö 160, Sö 164, Sö 166, Sö 173, Sö 207, Sö 260, Sö 319, Vs 5, Vs 9, Vs 18, Gs 8, Ög 68, Ög 83, Ög 104, Ög 111, Ög Fv1950;341, Ög Fv1970;310, Vg 20, Vg 61, Vg 187, Vg 197, Sm 5, Sm 27, Sm 29, Sm 51, Sm 77, Sm 101, Sm 104, G 370.
34
Moltke, Runes and their Origin, 184.
35
Sawyer, The Viking-Age Rune-Stones, 69, 92.
36
U 344.
37
U 194.
38
ASC (D), ed. Cubbin, s.a. 1018.
39
For a similar argument in the earlier Viking period see Abrams, “Diaspora and Identity in the Viking Age.”
40
See Jesper Hjermind in this volume, pp. 321–31, “Vuiberg hic coronatur rex dacie.”
41
It is possible that it was on this journey that Cnut brought along his most prominent England earl, Godwine. Vita Ædwardi Regis (I.i.); Simon Keynes, “Cnut’s Earls,” 72–73.
42
Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, ed. Liebermann, 273–77 (Cnut, 1020, and Cnut, 1027).
43
Pedersen, “Riding Gear from late Viking-Age Denmark.”
44
Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 47–55.
45
Pedersen, “Riding Gear from Late Viking-Age Denmark,” 133–60.
46
Abrams, “The Anglo-Saxons and the Christianization of Scandinavia,” 226–27; Jørgensen, Fremmed Indflydelse.
47
Gesta Hammaburgensis, ed. Schmeidler, 115 (II.lv). Translation after Adam of Bremen: History, trans. Tschan, 93.
48
Gesta Hammaburgensis, ed. Schmeidler, 96–97 (II.xxxvi and schol. 25).
49
Gunnarsson, “Myntstamp från Lincoln”; Malmer, The Anglo-Scandinavian Coinage ca. 995–1020; Blackburn, “English Dies Used in the Scandinavian Imitative Coinages”; Steen Jensen, Tusindtallets danske mønter.
50
Hauberg, Myntforhold og Udmyntninger i Danmark indtil 1146; Spejlborg, “There and Back Again,” 182–97.
51
Okasha, “An Inscribed Anglo-Saxon Lid from Lund,” 181–83; Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 59.
52
Viborg is a special case with significant links to Cnut the Great and his journey to Denmark ca. 1019. See Iversen, Robinson, Hjermind, and Christensen, Viborg Søndersø 1018–1030; Roesdahl, “English Connections in the Time of Knut the Great”; Hjermind, “Vuiberg hic coronatur rex dacie,” in this volume.
53
Ulriksen, “Fremmed indflydelse i vikingetid og tidlig middelalder,” 107–8.
54
Christensen, “Early Glazed Ware from Medieval Denmark,” 67–76; Roesdahl, “English Connections in the Time of Knut the Great.”
55
Rasmussen and Hjermind, “Bestemmelse af proveniens,” 429.
56
Nyborg, “Kirke og sogn i højmiddelalderens by,” 124–46.
57
Olsen, St. Jørgensbjærg Kirke, 34.
58
Steen Jensen, Tusindtallets danske mønter, 38.
59
Olsen, St. Jørgensbjærg Kirke, 1–31. On the range and importance of St. Clement in Cnut’s dominions, see Crawford in this volume, pp. 431–57.
60
ASC (C), ed. O’Brien O’Keeffe, 104 (s.a. 1023).
61
“Supplement to Jómsvíkinga Saga (Appendix IV),” in Encomium, ed. Campbell, 92–93; Chronicon ex chronicis, by John of Worcester, II, ed. Darlington and McGurk, s.a. 1009. See also Keynes, “Cnut’s Earls,” 56, n. 57.
62
ASC (C), ed. O’Brien O’Keeffe, 104 (s.a. 1023). See further Bolton in this volume, pp. 477–81.
63
Gesta Hammaburgensis, ed. Schmeidler, 114 (II.liv). Ulf witnessed at least one Charter of Cnut in England: see Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters, S 984. He is also listed among the attestations of S 980 (dated 1021×1023) and S 981 (no date), but both of these are of questionable authenticity. Indeed, S 980 may have been modeled on S 984.
64
Lund, “Cnut’s Danish Kingdom,” 37.
65
“Chronicon Roskildense,” VII.
66
Olsen, St. Jørgensbjærg Kirke. See further Crawford in this volume, pp. 445–47, 453–54.
67
Chronicon abbatiae Rameseiensis, ed. Macray, 75–77 (III).
68
Spejlborg, “Anglo-Danish Connections and the Organisation of the Early Danish Church”; Spejlborg, “There and Back Again.”
69
See above and Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 56–59.
70
Roesdahl, “Denmark-England in the Eleventh Century,” 18.
71
Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 56–58.
72
Pedersen, “Anglo-Danish Contact across the North Sea,” 56–58.
73
On Scandinavian metalwork in England, see Kershaw, Viking Identities; Kershaw, “Culture and Gender in the Danelaw,” 299.
74
See Ellis in this volume, 355–78.