Prehistoric Finnish wars

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Scattered information on wars against Finland or by Finns to neighboring countries prior to the Swedish conquest has survived in Icelandic sagas, German, Norwegian, Danish and Russian chronicles and Swedish legends. Many of these conflicts remain unhistorical and can not be verified from reliable sources.

Contents

[edit] Conflicts with Swedes

However legendary, Ynglingasaga tells about the first known military expedition to Finland. Based on saga's internal chronologies, the war presumably took place at the end of the 4th century, 6 generations before the semi-historical Swedish king Ohthere (Vendelkråka):[1]

It happened one summer that King Agne went with his army to Finland, and landed and marauded. The Finland people gathered a large army, and proceeded to the strife under a chief called Froste. There was a great battle, in which King Agne gained the victory, and Froste fell there with a great many of his people. King Agne proceeded with armed hand through Finland, subdued it, and made enormous booty.

Norna-Gests þáttr saga tells that Kvens (probably referring to Finns) were raiding in Sweden in the mid-8th century.[2]

Sigurd Ring (Sigurðr) was not there, since he had to defend his land, Sweden (Svíþjóð), since Curonians (Kúrir) and Kvens (Kvænir) were raiding there.

In the late 9th century, king Eric Anundsson was told to have conquered Finland, with pretty much everything else in the east as well.[3]

My grandfather Thorgny could well remember the Upsala king Eirik Eymundson, and used to say of him that when he was in his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to different countries, and conquered for himself Finland, Karelia, Courland, Esthonia, and the eastern countries all around --

However, all other accounts of the king exclude Finland from his conquests.

Finland was probably the same as Terra Feminarum which was attacked by Sweden in 1050s, as described in Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) by Adam of Bremen in 1075 CE. According to the source, the attack ended in the Swedish defeat, and led to the death of the king's son who was in charge of the campaign. Information on the conflict is however convoluted.

The best-known Swedish war against Finland presumably took place in the 1150s known as the legendary First Swedish Crusade. Whether it ever actually happened, is however not certain as the information is based on the late 13th century legends.

Sweden eventually took over Finland during the so-called Second Swedish Crusade around 1249. By the end of the century, records of independent Finnish military activities ceased to surface.

[edit] Conflicts with Norwegians

Norwegian Ohthere tells in the Old English Orosius from 890 that Norwegians and Kvens (Finns) were in conflict with each other from time to time:[4]

The Kvens (Qwenas) harry the Norwegians across the moor, sometimes the Norwegians them. And there are very many fresh water lakes beyond the moors; and the Kvens carry their ships overland into the moors, whence they harry the Norwegians, they have very small and very light ships.

Legendary Orkneyinga saga tells about Nor who travelled from Kvenland (probably Finland) to Norway and took over the entire country. Based on saga's internal chronologies, the war would have taken place on the 6th or 7th century. Another version of the saga, Hversu Noregr byggdist, however omits the Kvenland part completely.

Saga of Olaf Haraldson tells how the Saint Olaf himself, the King of Norway, plundered in Finland around 1007 and almost got killed.[5]

After this they sailed to Finland and plundered there, and went up the country. All the people fled to the forest, and they had emptied their houses of all household goods. The king went far up the country, and through some woods, and came to some dwellings in a valley called Herdaler, -- where, however, they made but small booty, and saw no people; and as it was getting late in the day, the king turned back to his ships. Now when they came into the woods again people rushed upon them from all quarters, and made a severe attack. The king told his men to cover themselves with their shields, but before they got out of the woods he lost many people, and many were wounded; but at last, late in the evening, he got to the ships. The Finns conjured up in the night, by their witchcraft, a dreadful storm and bad weather on the sea; but the king ordered the anchors to be weighed and sail hoisted, and beat off all night to the outside of the land. The king's luck prevailed more than the Finns' witchcraft; for he had the luck to beat round the Balagard's ("pyre coast") side in the night and so got out to sea. But the Finnish army proceeded on land, making the same progress as the king made with his ships.

It has been suggested that based on the names "Herdaler" (Härjedalen?) and "Balagard" (Dalagård?), the king's expedition would have actually taken place in Dal River area in Sweden. For a reason or another, Olaf's plundering in Sweden would have been relocated to Finland. However, some still consider that the expedition took place in Finland, presumably north of Uusimaa.[6]

According to Icelandic chronicles, Finns (Kvens) were raiding in northern Norway in 1271:[7]

Then Karelians (Kereliar) and Kvens (Kvænir) pillaged widely in Hålogaland (Hálogalandi).

This is the last record of independent Finnish military activities before the 20th century.

[edit] Conflicts with Danes

Vague chronicle entries shortly mention Danish expeditions to Finland in the 1190s and 1202.[8] Nothing is known about their results except what can be read from a papal letter[9] from 1209 to the Archbishop of Lund which lets the reader understand the church in Finland be at least partly established by Danish efforts.

[edit] Conflicts with Novgorod

All information on Finnish wars with Novgorod is based on medieval Russian chronicles. Russians and Finns (Yems) had frequent conflicts from the 11th or, more securely, the 12th century onwards. The earliest possible mention of hostilities is from the Laurentian Codex shortly mentioning Novgorodian prince Vladimir attacking the "Yam" in 1042.[10]

Conflicts were more common in the 12th century as described in the Novgorod First Chronicle, however information on them remaining very scarce. St. Vsevolod of Pskov attacked Finland in 1123. Finns were defeated near Ladoga in 1142 with 400 casualties. Karelians, now under Novgorodian influence, were at war with Finns in the following year. Finns attacked Russian soil in 1149, this time also against Votes that were in alliance with Novgorod. Novgorod had its troops in Finland again in 1189, with no less victorious than before. Few years later Karelians accompanied Novgorodians for another attack in Finland.[11]

Best described is the war during the 1220s. Novgorod devastated Finland in winter 1226–27.[12]

The same winter Yaroslav, son of Vsevolod left Novgorod over the sea against Finns where no else Russian prince had been able to dwell; and he conquered the land and returned to Novgorod praising the God with a lot of prisoners; but when those who were accompanying him could not handle all the prisoners, they killed some of them but released many more.

The Finnish retaliation expedition in summer 1228 against Ladoga with more than 2000 men[13] ended in disaster, as described by the Novgorod First Chronicle.[14]

Finns (Yems) came to Lake Ladoga to war, and word about that came to Novgorod on the Ascension Day of the Christ (6.8). And Novgorodians took their barges and rowed to Ladoga with prince Jaroslav. Vladislav, the bailiff at Ladoga, and the people of Ladoga did not wait for the Novgorodians, but went after them (Finns) in boats where they were fighting, met with them and fought them; and then came night, and they (people of Ladoga) landed on an island, but Finns were on the coast with prisoners; for they had been fighting close to the lake near the landing place, and in Olonets. The same night they asked for peace, but the bailiff and the people of Ladoga did not grant it; and they killed all the prisoners and ran into forests, after abandoning their ships. Many of them fell there, but their boats were burned. -- And of those who had come, 2000 or more were killed, God knows; and the rest (who had not fled) were all killed.

Based on Papal letters from 1229, the unknown Bishop of Finland took advantage of the chaotic situation, paving the way for the eventual Swedish conquest 20 years later.

Even as Finland was taken over by Sweden around 1249, wars continued to rage in Finland as a part of Swedish-Novgorodian Wars.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ynglingasaga.
  2. ^ Norna-Gests þáttr, chapter 7. See also the English translation.
  3. ^ Saga of Olaf Haraldson. See chapter 81. THORGNY'S SPEECH.
  4. ^ Ottar's description of Kvenland.
  5. ^ http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/haraldson1.html Saga of Olaf Haraldson. See chapter 8: The Third Battle.
  6. ^ See Suomen museo 2002 (ISBN 951-9057-47-1), page 78.
  7. ^ Íslenzkir annáler sive Annales Islandici ab anno Christi 809 ad annum 1430, pp. 140–141. Translation provided here is by the author of the article.
  8. ^ Excerpts from different Danish chronicles mentioning Finland. In Latin.
  9. ^ Letter "Ex Tuarum". In Latin.
  10. ^ Attack to Finland in 1042. In Swedish.
  11. ^ Novgorod First Chronicle entries about Finnish wars, 1123, 1142, 1143, 1149, 1186, 1191. In Swedish.
  12. ^ Attack to Finland in 1226 from the Laurentian Codex. In Swedish.
  13. ^ The figure sounds high. The usual Swedish ledung had just 2500 men which would mean that less organized Finns were able to establish a similar naval force. See Suomen museo 2002 (ISBN 951-9057-47-1), page 85.
  14. ^ Finnish attack against Ladoga in 1228. In Swedish.

[edit] See also

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