Ingvar the Far-Travelled
Ingvar the Far-Travelled (
The Rus' undertook
No less than twenty-six Ingvar runestones – twenty-four of them in the Lake Mälaren region of Uppland in Sweden – refer to Swedish warriors who went out with Ingvar on his expedition to the Saracen lands. A stone to Ingvar's brother indicates that he went east for gold but died in Saracen land.[1]
Sources
Aside from the Ingvar runestones, there are no surviving Swedish sources that mention Ingvar, but there is the Yngvars saga víðförla and three Icelandic annals which mention his death under the year 1041: Annales regii, the Lögmanns annáll and the Flateyarbók annals.[2] These three annals are probably based on Sturla Þórðarson's compilation.[2] Swedish archeologist and historian Mats G. Larsson notes that The Georgian Chronicles mentions a visit from a Viking expedition in the year 1040, which correlates with the description of such a meeting in Yngvars saga víðförla.[3]
Life
Origin
There are three theories on Ingvar's origin. According to one theory, prominently held by
A second theory suggests that Ingvar was the son of a Swedish prince named Eymundr, who would have been the son of Eric the Victorious and the brother of Olof Skötkonung.[4] The existence of this prince Eymundr has been suggested by Lauritz Weibull (1911) and J. Svennung (1966).[4] The theory is based on a re-evaluation of the age of the Ingvar runestones, proposed by Elias Wessén and Sune Lindquist, which suggests that the Ingvar runestones were carved earlier in the 11th century than previously believed.[4]
According to a third theory, proposed by F. Braun, and which is based on the runestones
Ingvar's origin was, however, debated as early as the saga writers, or to put it in the words of Oddr Snorrason:
- We do know that there are some saga tellers who say that Yngvarr was the son of [King] Önundr Óláfsson [d. 1060], because they think that it would be more honorable for him to be a king's son. And [they say that] Önundr would gladly give up all his realm if he had been allowed to bargain for Yngvarr's life, because all the chiefs in Sweden would gladly have had him [Yngvarr] as king over them.[6]
Expedition
It is possible that it was King
The participants were evenly distributed along the
did not take part and this was probably done on purpose in order to keep a defensive army in Sweden while the main force was away.Anund Jacob was the brother of
In 1030, he had visited
Aftermath
According to the
They died in the East, in Serkland.
Yngvars according to the saga had a son Svein. Svein also gathered a large armada of Swedish ships and sailed to Kievan Rus. Svein asked the East Slavic queen to have a church dedicated to his father Yngvar and declare Yngvar a saint. The Russian queen, however, declined and said only people performing miracles could be called a saint. Then Svein said that his father had god in his heart and served him his entire life and said that should be enough for sainthood. The Gårdariki queen then let the Swedes call this local church Yngvars church. However, he was not declared a saint. Svein married a local girl and settled down in Russia as a noble or king. Sven told before the marriage he could not marry a heathen girl. The Swedish priest did not speak East Slavic so Sven had to use an interpreter for her conversion ceremony and his marriage. The girl thought that Sven had beautiful eyes and wanted to kiss Sweyn. She however had to wait for the marriage ceremony and conversion ceremony until she could kiss him.
His expeditions into Russia went better after killing heathens and converting heathens his host of Swedish soldiers decided to settle down. Svein troops engaged in many wars in Kievan Rus against heathen nations and helped the Grand Prince of Kiev several times. After a long time, he arrived in his old homeland. He was treated as a hero when he arrived. With many Swedes admiring Svein. He and his men also apparently killed a dragon. They told so in the Swedish court.
Many Swedes even wanted Yngvars son Svein to be the next king of Sweden. He refused however his large host of soldiers decided to settle down in Kievan Rus' since the climate was more fruitful and the Swedish lands were barren and cold. Kettil the source of the saga said farewell to Sven. The last time he saw Sven he was sailing down the rivers of Russia. While Kettil returned to Iceland and told the tale. [8]