Ladoga in the Viking Age

Aldeigyuborg (Ladoga) was mentioned in the Viking sagas more often than all other cities of Ancient Rus’. Archaeologists date the foundation of Ladoga to the middle of the 7th century, based on dendrochronological data (dating to 753 by the annual rings of logs used in the pillar structure of the Viking «big house» in Ladoga). The emergence of Aldeigyuborg, apparently, is associated with the need to organize anchorage of Viking sea ships and transfer goods from them to lighter, flat-bottomed ships. Through the Gulf of Finland, the Neva, Ladoga and the mouth of the Volkhov, ships sailed without hindrance. But then, downstream on the Volkhov, rapids began (Gostinopolskie, from the modern village of Novye Dubrovki, 10 km south of Ladoga, to the village of Gostinopole; and Pchevskie, near the village of Gorodishche). Lighter ships passed through them easy. Therefore, on the way between the mouth of the Volkhov and the rapids, a settlement was needed for resting Varangian merchants, reloading goods, repairing ships, and trading with the local population. Aldeigyuborg became such settlement. The original settlement on the site of Ladoga was unfortified. It was a trading post, anchorage for Viking ships that came from Lake Ladoga and descended on the Volkhov River.

According to the modern topography, traces of this settlement are located to the west of the Zemlyanoy fort along the left bank of the Volkhov and the right bank of the Ladozhka River, as well as on Varyazhskaya Street, which is considered the oldest street in the history of Russia. At this place it has been located for almost 1200 years. At the place of the Zemlyanoy fort were so-called «Big houses» — typical buildings of the Vikings, «merchants-Rus». During their construction, a ship’s tree was used; archaeologists found many Scandinavian goods.

In 997, the Norwegian Earl Eric, who was at enmity with Olaf Tryggvason, attacked Aldeigyuborg, which belonged to the Valdamar the Old (Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, the future), who was the ally of Olaf. Aldeigyuborg was presented as a present by Prince Yaroslav the Wise to his wife, the Swedish princess Ingigerd in 1019. The city is featured in Scandinavian mythology, in particular, in the «Saga of Hoerver», where Aldeigyuborg was described as the possession of one of the sons of the god Odin, the owners of the famous sword Tyurfing.

The first wooden fortress (borg) was founded during the reign of Rurik. Earlier fortress walls are hidden in the ground and are revealed during archaeological research. Archaeologist A. N. Kirpichnikov assumed that the first stone fortifications appeared in Ladoga under Oleg, around the 870s. Their traces were found at the eastern border of the southwestern part of the wall and in the northeastern part of the fortress yard.

On the right bank of the Volkhov, opposite the settlement of the Viking Age, there is the Plakun place, which the archaeologist G. S. Lebedev defines as a burial ground of the era of Rurik and Oleg. By the 9th — 10th centuries was a burial ground near the modern Nikolsky monastery, the so-called Pobedische. In the place «Sopki» was the so-called «Oleg Hill» (in honour of the famous Varangian prince Oleg, the creator of the Old Russian state). This interpretation was considered in 1885 only, this mound was called «Oleg’s grave», although there is no evidence of the connection between Prince Oleg and this hill. It is a tale, but we can see the plate: «Oleg’s grave» near the hill now.

In 2015, a monument to Rurik and Oleg as the founders of the Old Russian state was founded in Staraya Ladoga. It stands at the beginning of Varyazhskaya Street, in front of the fortress of the 16th century.

Photos

A. I. Filyushkin

Tags: castles and fortresses, places of memory, before 13 century, По маршруту Александра Невского: Ледовое побоище, The struggle for the Baltic until the 13th century, North-West Russia