| |
|
|
|
A commented summary of
Adam of Bremen
[Rev 0.3], 2003-09-19, Written by Wilmer Thomas (work still in progress).
Summary
This article provides a commented summary of Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis. It can be read as is, although it is intended for internal references from complementing articles in this serie of articles on Ancient Nordic Sources.
The numbering used in this article is done according to [Ref. 11], which presents a slightly different numbering compared to [Ref. 57].
(Go to content list.)
(Return to main article.)
(Return to home page.)
Content
A commented summary of Adam of Bremen
- Summary
- Content
- Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum
- Surveying the work of Adam
- A commented summary of Adams Gesta
- About the author and Hamburg-Bremen
- The preserved transcriptions of Adams work
- The sources used by Adam
- List of bishops and contemporary kings / emperors
- Archbishops and kings in the 8th - 11th centuries
- Discussion on archbishops and kings
- Book I
- Summary of book I
- Discussion on Book I
- Book II
- Summary of book II
- Discussion on Book II
- Book III
- Summary of book III
- Discussion on Book III
- Book IV
- Summary of book IV
- Discussion on Book IV
- Conclusions
- Article references
- Litterature and background articles
- Background articles
- Litterature
- External links
- Article revision history
(Return to top of page.)
Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum
Surveying the work of Adam
A commented summary of Adams Gesta
The work of Adam of Bremen, populary referred to as the Gesta, consists of four books, and it is a documentation of the work done by, and the time they worked in, for the (arch)bishops of Hamburg-Bremen, from 780 AD until the archbishop Adalbert, dead 1073, under whom Adam was serving. More specifically, Hamburg-Bremen was an ordinary bishop seat serving under Köln, representing the lands of Northalbings, but as such also held arch bishop claims for the Nordic terrritories (see Hamburg-Bremen claims as archbishop seat, on page 143).
Besides the preserved hand written copies of the work (which, to some extent, differs to its content), the text is complemented with scholies; additions that serves the purpose of explaining something unclear or adding missed information. Some of these are assumed to have been entered by Adam himself, some by later transcribers. See discussion below, The preserved transcriptions of Adams work, on page 144
Litterature references used for this article are [Ref. 11], which contains a Swedish translation with commentary articles, and [Ref. 12] which contains a Danish translation of Gesta... Book IV, Description of the Nordic islands. In [Ref. 57], the latin version is provided online. An important view on how to interpret the work of Adam was presented by Henrik Janson in his dissertation, [Ref. 32].
This summary mainly focuses on a collection of interesting statements in regards to the history and geography of ancient Scandinavia. When appropriately needed, comments are added as a discussion basis on the topics found interesting for other articles that references the work of Adam.
About the author and Hamburg-Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adamus Bremensis, Adam of Bremen, was a clerk that came to the archbishop Adalbert in Hamburg-Bremen around 1066/67.
Adam was called magister scholarum, which however does not necessarily imply that he came to Bremen to work as a teacher1. Rather, his main task was probably to write, in fact, the history of the archbishopric Hamburg-Bremen, describing its hard and continuous work over the centuries to spread Christianity according to the catholic church to the north and east of the German empire.
Any more specifics about him is not known; he is assumed to have come from Bamberg or some other place in southern Germany (Oberdeutchland), and most likely he lived for some years after the completion of his work in the midst 1070s.
Hamburg-Bremen claims as archbishop seat
Henrik Janson discussed the conflict between the pope and the emperor of Germany, and thus Hamburg-Bremen, in his dissertation, [Ref. 32]. This is referenced online in [Ref. 59],where Janson elaborates on the conflict of arch bishop claims for Hamburg-Bremen and explains the actual cirumstances for referring to Hamburg-Bremen as the arch bishop seat of Nordic territories2 that follows the days of Ansgar and his mission in ancient Sweden.
The bishop seat of Bremen served under the archbishop of Köln but had missionary privilegies in the Northern territories, based upon the popes admission in 832 AD. Ansgar was the bishop of Hamburg, but when the town was ruined in 845 AD he was given the bishop seat of Bremen instead, and from this day they are linked together under the epithet Hamburg-Bremen.
In fact, according to Janson the pope does not acknowledge their claims as archbishop seat until much later, towards the end of Ansgars life in the late 800s. Furthermore, in this legal acknowledgement, as a contrary to the preliminar acknowledgement for Hamburg-Bremen in the same year, 864 AD, it was a personal designation for Ansgar to serve as archbishop for the Northalbings, the people east of river Elbe, but only as legate for the pope in the lands of Sueones and Danes. Janson in his dissertation [Ref. 32] and the online article in [Ref. 59] holds that it was the nephew of archbishop Ebo of Reims, Gautbert, who held the archbishop privilegies of Sueones and Danes, besides Ansgars right for the Northalbings.
However, over the centuries Hamburg-Bremen held thier claims according to the first, preliminary agreement with Rome in 864, which as shown by Janson was changed in the final acknowledgement. Hence, whenever Adam refers to the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen following Ansgar, it serves the underlying purpose of strenghtening the political foundations of the bishop seat Hamburg-Bremen.
The preserved transcriptions of Adams work
In [Ref. 11], Tore Nyberg gives a thorough description of the written transcipts that are available today3. These can be divided into three groups, A, B and C. The A-sources ... Wiener-transcripts, B-sources Denmark ..., C-sources Germany. The A-sources are considered to be most coherent with the original handwritings of Adam.
Another important feature of the transcripts are the so called Scholies, that can be considered as adjustments and complementary notes added after the first completion of the work. These additions may reveal the circumstances for individual sources used, or into further detail explain some features layed out in the text. An example of the latter is Sc. 138 and Sc. 139, complementing chapter B.IV-26, on page 1664 in book IV , in which Adam tells of the heathen temple of Ubsola, and its surroundings.
Besides the thoroughly numbered Scholies, a few additions are made that in some cases clearly are entered by later transcribers. These are just defined as additions and accompanies the work in the same manner as the Scolies - but they are unnumbered. One such example of an addition (probably by Adam) is discussed in Terra feminarum[Note 49], describing an alternative interpretation of the land of females, terra feminarium, from the one given in chapter B.IV-19 that rather relates the used classical sources.
(Return to content list.)
The sources used by Adam
Which sources has Adam used?
It seems clear that Adam have used both written sources, and personal accounts from people with good or less good knowledge of Nordic whereabouts and conditions5. Adam gives a fair account of his sources, both written and oral. However, when his references are not amongst the most common, he seldome tells their origin. This is specifically true for his oral sources, for which Allan A. Lund in [Ref. 12] suggests that Adam has not considered them "worthy of mentioning"6.
Amongst written sources, he have had access to a lot of classical writers such as Tacitus7, Vergilius etc. , whom he - or subsequent transcribers - often gives account for in the numerous Scholies that accompany the main text as sidehand notations in the margin. Another set of important written sources are early medieval sources, amongst which Rimberts Vita Ansgari ([Ref. 68]) holds a prominent place, as mentioned above. He also have had access to different history works. For example, the work of Gregory of Tours ([Ref. 95]) relating the Frankish history and also Einhard (who rather wrote the history of Charles the Great; [Ref. 100]), is frequently referenced as sources for Adams description of the people and the territories of the north - especially in the first books.
The most important oral informant is Sven Estridsson, king of the Danes, whom Adam visits. From Estridsson, no doubt, Adam receives both tales, mythology and history from Sueonia and Dania8. He also references his own archbishop Adalbert by name, but for instance he does not reveal the alleged christian sources for the accounts of the heathen customs in the sueonic kingdom seat Ubsola. Probably he have have had the oppurtunity to meet some missionaries of his own time that have travelled to ancient Sweden, the land of the Sueones9, e.g. the bishops of Scania (Skåne) - out of which Egino in Dalby by Adam is told to have destroyed a heathen cult place and a statue of Frey, in the province of Västergötland (B.IV-30, on page 168).
Can Adam be trusted?
This abscence of distinct source references, then, is perfect ground for rendering a great deal of suspicion regarding the validity of those accounts - they may well be apprehended as imaginary fiction, added by Adam to achive the underlying goal of defending the postion of Hamburg-Bremen as archbishopric for the Nordic territories10.
Therefore, anyone wishing to draw conclusions of the text of Adam regarding ancient Scandinavia and Sweden in particular, must bear this in mind and strive to distinguish his account of classical writers or contemporary oral sources from his own conclusions, driven by the ambition to serve the underlying political purposes.
In the opinion of this author, however, in most cases his references of geographical distances and locations could well be deemed trustworthy; it would seem that he more or less directly gives the account of his sources - however, it also seem clear that he makes interpretations when several sources have somewhat contradicting accounts, and makes a synthesis that seem to be, either, most accurat or most suitable for his underlying purpose.
One such circumstance is discussed by Tore Nyberg in [Ref. 11], related to Adams account of the distance in time for travelling through the land of the Sueones11.
As an example of Adams relation to his classical sources may be mentioned his account for the mysterious creatures dwelling in the far northeast in B.IV-19, of amazons (see discussion in Terra feminarum[Note 49]), who get pregnant from drinking water and gives birth to boys with dog heads12.
List of bishops and contemporary kings / emperors
The chronology of the work begins in the 780s, when Charles the great rules the Frankish empire. Throughout the work, some deductions can be made not only for the main topic, archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, but also for the kings and emperors of the West and East Frankish (German) empires, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Svenberg et.al. in [Ref. 11] provides a folded table of not only archbishops but also bishops of Denmark, Norway an Sweden, along with genealogy lists of kings and emperors, which is summarized in Table 24 on page 146. Some comments on this list are provided below, see Discussion on archbishops and kings, on page 149.
Archbishops and kings in the 8th - 11th centuries
This table summarily lists the (arch)bishops of Hamburg-Bremen and the kings ruling nearby kingdoms at each separate time [Note 33].
(768 - 814)
( 810)
(814 - 840)
3Ansgar was the first archbishop of Hamburg, when it was separated from Köln in 832, confirmed by the pope in 834.
6Ansgar gets the bishop seat of Bremen after Leuderich sometimes between 848 and 849, since Hamburg was destroyed (BI.-24). See [Ref. 11], note 62. In 858, Bremen and Hamburg is joint and Ansgars holds it seven more years and dies in 865, in total 34 (16 in Hamburg, 18 in Bremen (B.I-27,34).
7Ludvig III was the name of both West-Frankish (879-882) and East-Frankish (876-882) kingdoms, whom died in wars against the heathens from north.
9In the time of Adalgar and his successor Hoger, Köln tried to take control over Hamburg-Bremen and it is said to have been so, although formally still an archbishopric (B.I-48).
11King Ludvig the child was only six when he became emperor after Arnulf, and died 911 (B.I-51, note125 [Ref. 11]).
12Konrad was a Frankish duke, grandson of Arnulf, and died 918 after being chosen as German king (B.I-52, note 129 [Ref. 11]).
13Henrik I was duke of Sachsen, inherited the throne and became the German king after Konrad from 919, died 936.
14In [Ref. 11], note 145, Hardeknut Worm is said to equal the father of Harald Bluetoothh, Gorm the old or Gorm the English. According to Adams account, he should have died around 935. Opposing comment in [Note 32].
19Erik Segersäll is supposed to have ruled from around 970 - 995. Olof Skötkonung from abround 995 - 1020.
26Emund Slemme, or Emund the old, the one having bishop Osmund with him, ruled from around 1050 - 1060. He was followed by Stenkil (~1060 - 1066), Erik and Erik (battling each other, 1066/1067), Hallsten (1067 - ~1070), Anund (probably son of Emund Slemme, elected but later rejected as king), Håkon the red (~1070 - 1079).
27Harald Hårdråde ruled Norway from 1047 - 1066 when he died in England, followed by Magnus (1066 - 1069) and Olav Kyrre (1069 - 1093).
(Return to content list.)
Discussion on archbishops and kings
Other sources contradicts the genealogy of Danish kings by Adam - Gorm the old, or Hardeknud Worm as one king is called by Adam13, is supposed to have ruled from 940 - 958/959 when he died - not in 935 as accounted by Adam.
Most likely these names of Danish kings refer to different kings; the remains of a (once) golden clothed king, Gorm the old, found in the 1100 stone church in Jelling was probably moved from the older wooden church which burnt down, and the original burial is likely to have been in the northern mound of Jelling. A dendrochronological study of beams from the north mound tomb shows that they were cut in 958/59, corresponding to the date of Gorm's death14. The man found in the stone church tomb, said to be Gorm, was 40-50 years old, 172 cm tall.
For reference, see also Saxo, the 9th and 10th books15. A possible alignment for the listing by Adam is the East Anglia descendents king Gorm (the English), whom according to Adam in B.I-59 consequently rejects Christ in the form of Hamburg-Bremen - which can be explained as a king that prefers the English Christian church16.
It also fits the chronology better if the Harald of B.I-59 is the son of Saxo's Gorm the Englishman, to be followed by Gorm the Old - father of Harald Bluetooth.
Also see [Note 40].
The list given in Table 24 on page 146 is compiled by the translators Svenberg et.al., [Ref. 11]. It reflects Adams view, and not nescessarily the view held today. Comments on the list are made separately for each instance of interest.
(Return to content list.)
Book I
Summary of book I
The first book spans from ~780 - 936 AD, when archbishop Unni dies. It comprise archbishop Ansgars first and second journey to the Sueones about 829 - 845 AD, as well as arch bishop Unnis journey to Birka about 70 years later.
Furthermore, the first geographical references made by Adam concerning the land of Sueones and Birka is given in this book.
<->Yggdrasil!
8According to [Ref. 11], note 88, Adam uses the unpreserved Gesta Francorum in Annales Fuldenses from 873.
9In [Ref. 11], note132, Hardeknut is assumed to be from Normandie. Nyberg in [Ref. 11], p.309, 11-1 Stad, Skrift och stift, points out that Adam uses Nortmanni to describe all people of Scandinavian herescent, both from Normandie and Scicily besides the Scandinavian countries.
12Quote from [Ref. 57], Liber I, Capitulum 57 - equalling [Ref. 11] B.I-55. In [Ref. 11], note140, german Wurm is connected to latin vermis. The king is assumed to be Gorm the old, see opposing comment at [Note 32].
(Return to content list.)
Discussion on Book I
- "Harald Hildetands son Björn Järnsida, son of Ragnar Lodbrok, had two sons, Erik and Refil (the latter was a sea-king). When Erik Björnsson died, Erik Refilsson ruled (son of Refil). Erik Björnsson in turn had two sons, Anund from Uppsala and king Björn av Högen (the mound). Anunds son was Erik who ruled at the same time as Harald Hårfagre. He had a son, Björn Eriksson, who ruled long in Uppsala. The sons of this Björn was Erik Segersäll and Olof, the latter was father of Styrbjörn starke. Finally, Erik Segersäll was the father of Olof Skötkonung."17
It is disputable if the names of this genealogy apply for Adams accounts of Sueonic kings. It may well be, however, that the king Björn named as a Sueonic king in the days of Ansgar is a local leader rather than the ruler of all Sueonic - or, rather, ancient Swedish - territories18).
- "was killed in war in a disturbance caused by pirates whilst his relatives were attempting to invade his kingdom. Together with him all the chief men of that land, who had formerly been acquaintances and friends of the bishop, perished by the sword."19
Consequently, when Saxo declares that Erik and his brother Harald attacked the kingdom of Erik the Child (see B.I-28 and [Note 37]) who was assisted by Eriks nephew Guttorm, either Adam or Saxo sees the opposer as an intruder; in Adams case, Horich of Jutland is in favour of Hamburg-Bremen and is thus likely to be seen as the better man20. Earlier, Saxo states that Erik the Childs father Sivard was elected king in both Skåne and Själland21.
In both sources, the result of the fights is that Horich the young, a.k.a. Erik the Child, later becomes king over, at least, parts of Denmark.
From online version [Ref. 57], Liber I Capitulum 27 (matches B.I-25 in [Ref. 11]) we have "Infinita gentilium credidit multitudo".
In accordance with Janson, [Ref. 32], the interpretation of `gentiles' should be differentiated from `pagani', whereas `gentiles' should be understood as Christians that not yet received the baptism, but `pagani' as Christians that have fallen out of the `right' Christian faith. Neither terms should be understood as heathens, in the mening of worshippers of Asa faith.
In this referenced sections, a likely interpretation is that the Danes are either heresy Christians, or influenced by the English church - the latter probably most likely given the links to the East Anglia kingdom in England, ruled by the Danes.
Saxo in the 9th book22, Erik the Child, describes a Danish king the matches the Horich of Adam. Erik is the son of Sivard, sonson of Ragnar Lodbrok and he survives the struggle for the throne of Denmark between other heirs of Ragnar Lodbrok (the brothers Erik and Harald) and follows in the footstep of Ragnar in his persecution on Christianity. At a later stage, Ansgar makes Erik realize his delusion and regret his deeds, and converts him to Christianity.
From Vita Ansgarii, the continuing story of the first Horic (see [Note 35]) is followed by the declaration of his successor, the young Horic:
- "When at length the younger Horic had been established in the kingdom, some of those who were then his chief men and had not been so well known to the bishop, tried to persuade him that the church that had been built amongst them should be destroyed, and that the Christian religion should be abolished."23
This, then, can only lead to the conclusion that Adams Horic the Younger equals Erik the Child, living towards the end of Ansgars life - between 958 and 965.
Another possibility is from the settlement of Sueonic kings that are known in Hedeby. Possibly these were descenderas of the Sueonic kings that was not rulers there (e.g. brother of the kings first son).
Henrik of Sachsen rules as king between 919 - 936. Hence, the time span allows for an alternative interpretation of Danish kings; Hardeknut Wurm (lat. Hardecnudh Wrm) is not the same as the later Wurm (lat. Worm).
This can be compared with Saxo (see [Note 32], footnote 15), who lists Erik the Child as father of Knud, father of Frode who is the father of Gorm the Englishman (in turn, father of one Harald - which cannot be Harald Bluetooth). Saxo states that Frode recieves the baptism in England, and that his son Gorm is born there. Hence, in accordance with [Note 36], the resistance of (lat.) Worm (Vurm by Svenberg et.al. in [Ref. 11]) towards Hamburg-Bremen most likely relates to their different Christian faith.
The chronology of Danish kings in the early 10th century does not allow for the Harald mentioned in B.I-59 as contemporary with Unni to be Harald Bluetooth. Compare [Note 32] on the life of Gorm the Old.
It also contradicts the story of B.II-3, in which Otto I (the great) defeats Harald Blåtand and forces him to convert (to the catholic Christianity in the shape of Hamburg-Bremen, mark). Since Unni dies "in Schytia" - which is interpreted as the land of the Sueones, or possible the eastern Baltic Sea territories - in 936, the baptism of a Danish king named Harald here must refer to someone else than Harald Bluetooth (also see [Note 42]).
This is a central part of the localization of Ansgars Birka. It seems that Adams sources very accurately describes the features of the harbor town Birka, but it is unclear whether these sources are dated to the 11th century, or if they relate statements of older, unspecified litterary sources.24
The logical interpretation is that this is an oral description given to Adam, in which case it can be argued that these directions may be valued with great significance for considering references to Birkas localization. Since Sven Estridsson is referenced in B.I-61, it is a credible guess that he is the source of the geographical references too, since none such statements are made in Vita Ansgarii25.
- "Birca est oppidum Gothorum, in medio Suevoniae positum , non longe ab eo templo, quod celeberrimum Sueones habent in cultu deorum, Ubsola dicto..."26
Based on the assumption of Gothroum being a part of Sueonia, this reference of Birka says that it lies in a certain part of Sueonic territorium - Götaland.
If we assume that Gothorum should be interpreted as `the Göta people', Birka would be a town founded and ruled by the people from Götaland, indicating a localization otherwise than in the main Göta territorium - e.g. in another Sueonic tribal territorium27.
(Return to content list.)
Book II
Summary of book II
The second book begins with archbishop Adaldag, 937 - 988, and streches into the 11th century with Alebrand, 1035 - 1043, who was the predescessor of Adam own bishop, Adalbert.
Discussion on Book II
A possible dating then, based on the alleged baptism of Haralds son Sven Tveskägg in 965 but even more so on the remains of Jellinge (in which the big rune stone probably was erected in 965), we are given a probable date for the battles between Otto I and Harald Bluetooth to be in 965 (or 964). This also corresponds to the fact that the remains of Gorm seem to be moved from the mound and buried a second time in the now (catholic) Christian kings new church.
At this confiramtion of privilegies, some sceptic remarks may be raised.
Janson in the online article [Ref. 59] prolongs the discussion from his dissertation, [Ref. 32], and finds that the privilegies as the popes prelat with the right to mission in Denmark and Sweden was given as a personal right for Ansgar, but that no such rights were formally given to the church and bishops of Hamburg-Bremen. And, most important, Hamburg-Bremen was never officiallly acclaimed as archbishopric of the Northern people. The did, however, in every effort try to make pretence it was so.
Book III
Summary of book III
