Ukrainian-norwegian Relations Through the 9th Up to the 20th Century

Background				Kievan Rus. The reason for such an assertion
				is verses of Scalds, laconic in content yet
In this article I present a revised text from				offering reliable factual information.
the Institute of Ukrainian History at the
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine				The relations between Kievan Rus and
research performed. This research elaborates				Scandinavia were particularly strong during
on the Norwegians relations with Ukraine				the grand duchy of Mstislav Vladimirovich
through a decade of centuries.				(1125 - 1132). By his mother he was a
				descendant of a famous English royal family.
Several facts are presented, but also there				His first wife Christina was the daughter of
are several sagas or myths that contribute to				the Swedish king Ingi Steinkelsson.
stories of the communication and the				Mstislav's daughters were married to Sigurd
relationship between the two countries. We				Norwegian (Sigurd Jordsalsfare), Erik the
have to be aware of the fact that some of the				Dane, and Knut Obodritsky respectively.
sagas or legends are not supported by written				Malmfrid was probably no more than 15 years
documentation found within Ukraine, so we				old when she came to Norway with Sigurd.
have to be cautious to how strong the				After Sigurds death she married the Danish
relationship has been through time. But the				prince Erik Ermune and thus later also became
fact remains, the Ukrainians and Norwegians				the queen of Denmark.
have enjoyed a close relationship and the mix
of the two countries people is clearly				When describing Ukrainian-Norwegian ties
documented and is still ongoing.				during late Medieval Ages, one must take into
				consideration that after the Kalmar union of
My interest for this country began first in a				1397 Denmark, Sweden and Norway formed a
strict business sense, and later evolved to				triunion state, ruled by the Danish kings. In
involve me on a personal level as I found my				1523 Sweden withdrew from the union, after
present wife in Ukraine. Her spirit has				witch the union consisted of Denmark and
guided me in writing these words and to find				Norway. Moreover, in 1536 Norway lost its
as much information as possible about the				internal autonomy and turned into a powerless
relationship between the two countries, since				part of the Danish kingdom. Yet, despite its
I am a Norwegian myself.				political subordination to Denmark, in the
				XV-XVII centuries Norway continued to be in
The increasing globalization taking part in				fact a separate state with its own economy
the world today and possible in the future,				and merchant class which pursued their own
makes this mix between countries increase as				interests. At the same time, it should be
well, both on private as well as in				noted that over the mentioned period of time
commercial levels. Ukraine rapidly develops				there were practically no relations between
to be provider of high-tech as well as				the Ukrainian and Norwegian lands.
agricultural products to the world. In
addition foreign investors find this country				Social-political relations during 1762-1917
of interest as it blossoms in its market
economy.				In this period the situation in both regions
				was much alike: the area with the centre in
Introduction				Kristiania (future Oslo) was part of the
				Swedish-Danish kingdom, while the lands along
It is possible to trace the relations between				the upper part of the Dnieper basin belonged
the Ukrainian and Norwegian lands more than a				to the Austrian (later Austro-Hungarian) and
thousand years back in time. We will try to				Russian Empire. Only in 1905 the Danish
give some insight into these relations from				Prince Carl, guided by the provisions of the
the foundation of the Kievan Rus up till the				Karlstad treaty ascended the Norwegian throne
establishment of the independent Ukraine in				under the name of Haakon VII, and some 10-15
1991.				years later state-formation processes began
				around "the Mother of the Russian cities".
Varangians in Kievan Rus.
				The above processes had a definite impact on
Norsemen played an essential part in				the overall status of the relations between
formation of the first Kievan state. In 8th				the two countries. Until the end of the 14th
to 14th centuries the Scandinavian				century ethnic Norwegians placed their
population were called the Norsemen. The				primary interest in the water area of the
famous chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years"				White and Kara Seas, the then Russian subject
contains a legend about the elders of the				Grand Duchy of Finland and Arkhangelsk
Slavic tribes inviting the Varangians to come				province.
to Rus and become its rulers. The Varangians
or Varyags sometimes referred to as				Norwegians in Ukraine
Variagians were Scandinavians, who migrated
eastwards and southwards through what is now				Christian Steven (1781-1863), a prominent
Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The legend then				botanist, a Swede with Norwegian background.
tells about the three brothers - Rurik,				He was born in Finland, studied in St
Sineus and Truvar who came to Rus and began				Petersburg. His first important assignment
reigning in the Slavic cities of Novgorod,				was the position of the director of the newly
Bilozer and Izborsk. The younger brother				founded Nikita botanical garden near Yalta.
died, and all the power over the Northern				He also contributed greatly to creation of
Eastern Slavic tribes of Slavs and Kriviches				the Magarach School of Winemaking (1828);
was transferred to Rurik. There is no doubt				after death of Marshall von Biberstein in
about the historical existence of Rurik, and,				1826 he was in charge of the region's
as the Tale says, he came to Rus with his				sericulture. In 1841 Steven became a chief
relatives and wife. Rurik is therefore seen				agricultural surveyor in the region.
as the founder of the princely dynasty in
Rus. Rurik's establishment in the northern				In 1853 a Ukrainian town of Izmail was
Rus resulted from an agreement concluded with				visited by the director of the Norwegian
the tribes of the Novgorod confederation..				Geographical Department, Professor Hansten,
				who was at that time working on the
It is known that the Varangian used to be				measurement of the Earth meridian arc.
summoned to the southern Rus for
participation in military campaigns. The				It is also necessary to mention the Norwegian
military assistance was needed mainly for				cultural influence in the region. In
external military actions of the Kievan Rus.				particular, in 1874 the audience in Odessa
Some of these campaigns would be the ones of				and Yalta had an opportunity to enjoy Johan
Oleg, Igor and Vladimir to Bysantium; the war				Svensen's (1840-1911) opera "Carnival in
of Yaroslav the Wise with the Pechenegs. The				Paris" and the symphonic legend "Zorahaida".
summoning was also used for sorting out
relations between the princes. The texts of				Twenty-five years later the southern
the 907, 911 and 944 treaties between Rus and				provinces were visited by the future Nobel
Bysantium bear witness that among the Rusian				prize winner and author of the book "In
envoys were people with Scandinavian names.				Fairyland" Knut Hamsun during his trip to the
The Scandinavians in Rus were not only				Caucasus.
employed as hired warriors but also as
diplomats.				In 1910 Christian Sinding arrived in Odessa,
				in which connection the Russian Musical Paper
Several versions exist in the historical				wrote the following in its issue no.12: "On
science regarding considerable involvement of				29 January the Imperial Russian Musical
Danes and Swedes in the Rus-Scandinavian				Society held the VII symphonic gathering led
medieval ties. There are also some, less				by the outstanding Norwegian composer and
numerous, facts of the relations between				conductor Christian Sinding with the
Kievan Rus and Norway. An example of this is				participation of the pianist Karl Nissen. The
archaeological finds, such as silver coins				program consisted solely of the music written
found in Nesbu, Norway, which were minted in				by the famous guest, namely symphony
the Kievan Rus in the times of Vladimir and				de-bemoll #1, the piano concert D-major with
Yaroslav.				the orchestra, variations of "Fatum" and
				"Rondo infinito" for a grand orchestra.
Trading				Sinding was warmly received by the audience,
				and was given a long standing ovation."
Trading between Rus and Norway were of less
extended than those with Denmark and Sweden,				Norwegian Colonel Petersen, a participant of
and are poorly reflected in written sources.				the Russian-Turkish wars of the end of 18th
The Icelandic sagas contain only two direct				century, as well as a witness and
records of commercial voyages of Norwegians				historiographer of signing the
to Rus. One of them mentions a Norwegian				Kuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty that initiated
merchant sailor Gudleik of Agda, who often				inclusion of Crimea to the territorial
traveled to Rus and was therefore called				possessions of St Petersburg of that time.
Gudleik Rusian". The saga about Olav
Tryggvason tells about a large cargo of silk				Joseph Igelstrom, a Swedish-Norwegian by
that he probably bought in the Rusian lands				background, was in charge of the Tavria
and brought on his ship to Norway. Kievan Rus				province. During his trips along the Black
was mainly used by the medieval Norway as a				Sea coast he attracted the major part of the
transit territory for goods from the Middle				local magnates to the side of Ekaterina II.
East.				Igelstrom collected, catalogued and described
				a huge collection of Tatar-Arabic charts, and
There are reasons to believe that the Baltic				was the author of comprehensive letters to
voyages of Norwegians to Rus continued in the				Count Grigoriy Potemkin regarding living
7th and 13th centuries. A law issued by the				conditions of the population and the climate
Norwegian King Magnus in 1276 says that at				of Crimea.
the time of creating the law, Norwegians
continued commercial voyages to the countries				The members of the Baggovut noble family, a
situated along the Baltic seashore, including				family of Norwegian descent, beside being the
Gardarike which is the same as Rus.				owners of breweries and estates in Eastland
				and having relation to the descendants of the
Another evidence of existence of certain				chancellor of the Uppsala University
trading between Rus and Norway is that, of				Svebelius (Julia Fedorovna Baggovut), also
the nineteen Norwegian small coins found in				took part in the Ackendorf battle in May 1807
ten sites located in the Eastern Europe,				against the Napoleon army. One of the streets
fifteen coins were found in seven sites on				in Kiev was named Baggovutivska.
the territory of Kievan Rus. Ten coins belong
to the times of Harald the 3rd (years				The famous Norwegian author BjÃ¸rnstjerne
1047-1066), another two were minted during				BjÃ¸rnson had extensive contacts with
the reign of Olav Kyrre (years 1066-1093),				Ukrainian writers and journalists for
the rest are undated (9th century)				instance Roman Sembratovich, Yaroslav
				Fedorchuk and Volodymyr Kushnir. In Taras
Political relations.				Shevchenko Academy of Sciences in Lviv there
				was a large collection of BjÃ¸rnson's
Of a considerable interest is the history of				writing in Russian, German and Czech. But
relations between the Kievan prince Vladimir				famous writers like Ivano Franko and Mykhailo
the Great (980-1015) and Norway. According to				Pavlyk also translated his writings into
existing data, he may have fought the				Ukrainian language. BjÃ¸rnson wrote a
Norwegian prince Erik. The juvenile prince				number of articles in the European press
Olav Tryggvason, the nephew of Vladimir's				where he spoke for the sake of Ukraine. He
grandee Sigurd, and his mother were given				strongly condemned a decree issued by Tsar
refuge in Kiev. Sigurd rescued the 9-year old				Aleksandr II, which introduced a ban on the
Olav, who was held captive in the Baltic				use of Ukrainian language in literature, in
land, and brought him to the court of Grand				translations and in theatre.
Prince Vladimir. Prince Olav was a loyal
servant to Vladimir, but fell a victim to				The 20th Century
slander and was forced to resign. A few years
later, possibly with Prince Vladimir's help,				In the first days of the First World War
he dethroned Erik, making him flee to Sweden,				(1914-1918) in the Galician city of Lviv,
to become the king of Norway. Later on he				which was at that time part of the
began fighting with Prince Vladimir over the				Austrian-Hungarian empire, a group of
North-Western lands of Rus. The war lasted				emigrants from the upper regions of the
four years and resulted in him being driven				Dnieper basin formed a non-party political
away.				organisation "Union for the Liberation of
				Ukraine". The national-political platform was
The maintenance by Prince Vladimir of				Ukraine's independence, with the
traditionally good relations with the				constitutional monarchy as a government form.
Scandinavian countries appears quite logical,				The union believed it necessary to inform the
as the Rurik dynasty, to which he belonged,				public opinion in the war-neutral Balkan and
had Scandinavian origin. Among Vladimir's				Scandinavian states about the issues of
numerous wives was a Scandinavian-born -				Ukraine and liberation of other enslaved
Rogneda - whom he married in 977. Good				nations of the Russian Empire.
relations with the Scandinavian states
ensured to Prince Vladimir the stability on				To this end ULU assigned to Norway its envoy
the north-western borders of Rus and served				Osyp Nazaruk, who had meetings with the
primarily his local tactical purposes.				president of the Storting J. LÃ¸vland and
				the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ihlen, and
According to ancient Scandinavian sources,				discussed with them the war and the attitude
Olav Haraldsson also called Olav the Holy				of Ukrainians towards it. Owing to Osyp
(years 995-1030) who was the Norwegian King				Nazaruk a number of articles on the Ukrainian
from 1014 till 1028, lived in Rus from autumn				issues appeared in the Norwegian
1029 till spring 1030. His political				Morgenbladet.
opponents in Norway took the side of the King
of England and Denmark, Knut the Great, who				,b>Ukrainian-Norwegian relations during the
also sought power in Norway. Olav was				Soviet Union period.
defeated in the war against Denmark and was
forced to flee to Sweden, then onwards to				Very few facts and evidence are found of the
Kievan Rus. Olav the Holy was married to				Ukrainian-Norwegian relations of the Soviet
Astrid, the sister of Yaroslav the Wise's				time. The 1921-1922 famine in Ukraine evoked
wife Ingigerda. It is known that Ingigerda				the movement of solidarity with the starving
persuaded her husband to foster Olavs' son				people in the Scandinavian countries. In
Magnus, who was left in Kiev when Olav left				Norway this movement took shape of public
Kievan Rus.				agitation, the so-called charity weeks and
				months, the proceedings from which were then
Thus, Magnus Olavsson, the future king of				directed to the starving population in
Norway (1035-1047) and of Denmark (1042-1047)				Ukraine and Volga region. The charity
also called Magnus the Good, spent at least				included one-off fundraisings, individual
five years of his life in Kievan Rus. Later,				donations, as well as systematic
members of Norwegian nobility came to Kiev				subscriptions from the individuals' incomes.
and took him back to Norway. Some sagas
contain an evidence of Yaroslav and				Yet, creation in 1923 of the Union of Soviet
Ingigerda's active involvement in raising				Socialist Republics virtually brought to an
Magnus to the Norwegian throne.				end Ukraine's communication with the world
				community - individual diplomatic missions of
The sagas also tell us of the Norwegian King				Ukraine were closed, and the entire
Harald Hard Ruler's (1046-1066) two visits to				international activity was taken over by the
Kievan Rus. In 1031 he started his "voyage				People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of
eastwards to Gardarike, to King Jarisleiv",				the Soviet Union.
where he lived for several years (ca
1034-1043) in Kiev, at the court of Yaroslav				The Norwegian polar explorer, scientist and
the Wise and, according to Snorri Sturluson,				humanist Fridtjof Nansen served as a high
served as a retinue chief. Later Harald spent				commissioner of the International Red Cross,
several years serving the Byzantine emperor				which provided relief for famine stricken
Konstantin IX Monomachus. Upon his return to				Ukraine in 1921-23. Nansen did a lot to
Kievan Rus in 1043 he married Elizabeth, the				inform Europe about the famine in Ukraine and
daughter of Yaroslav the Wise.				he collected money for the relief work. He
				also used money he earned from the Nobel
Harald wrote the Song of Joy dedicated to				Peace Prize for the aid work. On 23 January
Elizabeth, the daughter of King Yaroslav,				1923 Nansen came to the city of Kharkiv to
whom he sought in marriage". It should be				discuss with the Soviet government of Ukraine
noted that this kind of love lyric poetry is				the plans for fighting the famine. Nansen's
not typical for the works of Scandinavian				mission established a number of orphanages,
scalds. A translation into Ukrainian was made				and provided scholarship for students and
by the famous Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko.				teachers at Kharkiv University. Nansen also
				established a number of model farms - the
Harald and Elizabeth had two daughters -				most famous of them in the town of
Maria and Ingigerda. This marriage				Mykhailovka between Kharkiv and
strengthened ties between Kievan Rus and				Dnipropetrovsk. In these farms he introduced
Norway and resulted in a temporary alliance				modern technology and principles for farming.
between Harald and the mighty Earl Svein
Ulfsson, the future Danish king.				Later, during World War II in 1944 Ukraine
				regained its lost status by passing the law
The assistance provided by Yaroslav the Wise				On Establishment of the People's Commissariat
to Harald, namely preserving his treasure,				for Foreign Affairs in the Ukrainian Soviet
offering a temporary refuge and helping				Republic (from 1946 - Ministry of Foreign
Harald prepare his trip to the homeland, on				Affairs). In compliance with this Law, the
the one hand, and furthering a political				Constitution of Ukraine was amended by
alliance between Harald and the enemies of				Article 15-b, which established the right of
King Magnus through the marriage with				the Ukrainian Soviet Republic to be directly
Elizabeth, on the other hand, resulted in an				involved in international relations. However,
agreement between Magnus and Harald to divide				due to the totalitarian nature of the
the rule of Norway.				political regime existent in the Soviet
				Union, the above documents proved to be a
Elizabeth remained the Norwegian queen for				mere formality.
over 20 years - from the winter 1043/1044
until the death of Harald on 25 September				During World War II a considerable number of
1066 during the battle of Stamford Bridge.				Ukrainian prisoners of war ended up in labor
Later she married the Danish king Svein.				camps in Norway. Many of these people
				established contact with or were helped in
The fact that Rusian written sources of				various ways by Norwegian civilians. Soviet
information about the Scandinavians presence				troops took part in the liberation of Norway
in Rus do not mention names of the Norwegian				in 1944-45.
kings which served the Rusian princes, nor
their sons who were brought up there, reveals				Only in 1991, after Ukraine gained
a strong overstatement in the sagas of their				independence and entered the international
role in Rus. Moreover, the life of Norwegian				scene, did the relations between Ukraine and
kings in Rus is pictured rather concisely in				Norway begin to improve. In 1992 Ukraine and
sagas - a few general words. It may well be				Norway established diplomatic relations.
due to lack of specific information, as well
as tendency of the authors of sagas to				This article was prepared by members of the
exaggerate the importance of Scandinavian				Institute of Ukrainian History at the
noblemen in Rus. Yet, despite the lack of				National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and
information in the Rusian sources, there				then translated and edited by the Royal
exists an evidence of their presence in				Norwegian Embassy in Kiev.

1 A B 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

Discover rusyns people

Ukrainian-norwegian Relations Through the 9th Up to the 20th Century