Infopanel 37

Today's successor states

By the end of the Viking Age, small, geographically limited kingdoms had disappeared throughout most of the north and been incorporated into large empires. By the end of the Viking Age, the rulers of these empires were almost exclusively Christian, as they had recognized the cultural and organizational superiority of the already Christianized European empires of Central and Southern Europe and sought to join them. This was not only a matter of literacy and Latin-based literary skills, which enabled the recording of their own history and great deeds. From a practical point of view, the services of literate monks and priests in royal correspondence were probably more important. They helped with correspondence with other rulers and in diplomacy, but also with the preparation of documents, appointments, and enfeoffments, which were indispensable for conflict-free administration. Added to this was the territorial and administrative division into archdioceses, dioceses, and parishes, based on thousands of years of experience, which supported and often anticipated the still rudimentary royal administrative divisions.

The Scandinavian kingdoms, some of which were already well established by the end of the 10th century—such as those of Harald Bluetooth, Sven Forkbeard and Knut the Great in Denmark, or those still embroiled in conflict, such as Olaf the Saint and Harald Hardrada in Norway a little later – had no interest whatsoever in raids and plundering by pirates, even if they came from their own imperial territories. As a result, pirates – even though they grandly called themselves sea kings – and their bands of warriors and mercenaries became increasingly unpopular and came into conflict with the royal central authority. The development of orderly states with reliable trade routes thus stood in stark contrast to the raids of the Viking Age.

As a legacy of the turbulent Viking Age, the empires and states of Scandinavia remained behind, even though the borders and power relations between Norway, Denmark, and Sweden continued to shift well into modern times, and Iceland remained dependent—first on Norway, then on Denmark—and did not gain its independence until 1944.