Fans of Netflix’s popular series Vikings may have wondered why Ragnar Lothbrok—or his descendants—never launched raids on Constantinople. (Though in the sequel, Valhalla, there are references to it.) The Vikings ventured as far east as the Middle East, yet there is no record of them attempting to storm the Byzantine capital, even though it had all the traits that usually made a city irresistible to them. Situated on the Bosporus strait, linking Europe and Asia, Constantinople became a thriving hub of commerce, the largest city in Europe and the richest city in the world. Its markets overflowed with luxury goods: silk was the most coveted, followed by furs, wax, honey, and even slaves.
“Silk and gold were the great temptations,” historian John Haywood writes in his book Northmen: The Viking Saga AD 793–1241. And yet, while the Scandinavians themselves never struck at the city, the Kievan Rus—Vikings settled in Eastern Europe—tried twice during the middle Byzantine era and paid a heavy price.
The Scandinavians called Constantinople Miklagarðr—from mikill (“great”) and garðr (“fortified enclosure” or “walled place”) in Old Norse. In modern Norwegian, Miklagard survives, though its meaning has drifted closer to “large farm.”
The Fortifications of Constantinople
By the 10th century, the city’s immense wealth demanded equally immense defenses. Historians describe it as the most heavily fortified city in the world. It was protected by a deep moat and three successive walls, while a massive iron chain could be drawn across the mouth of its harbor to repel naval assault. Fans of Vikings might recall a similar tactic used by Rollo to defend Paris—a likely echo of Byzantine defenses.
The Vikings of Kiev
While Danish and Norwegian Vikings sailed west toward Britain and beyond, Swedish warriors and traders turned east, lured by the silver coins minted by the Abbasid Caliphate. These adventurers, who crossed the Baltic and pushed down into Eastern Europe, became known as the Rus—probably derived from the Finnish word ruotsi (“rowers’ crew”), the same root that later gave Russia its name.
Settling along the Dnieper and Volga rivers, the Rus established trade routes to the Black and Caspian Seas and subdued Slavic populations across what is now Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. By the mid-9th century, Rus merchants were trading as far as Baghdad. Yet, while the Abbasid capital boasted over a million inhabitants, it failed to capture their imagination the way Constantinople did.
The Rus’ First Assault on the City
The Rus first appeared in Byzantine records before 839, when envoys accompanied a diplomatic mission to the Frankish court. But in June 860, they launched a sudden attack on Constantinople, striking at a moment when the city was virtually defenseless.
Emperor Michael III was campaigning in Asia Minor with the imperial army, while the Byzantine fleet was chasing Saracen raiders in the Aegean. The Rus exploited this vacuum, pillaging the suburbs, burning homes, and slaughtering civilians. Patriarch Photius urged his flock to pray to the Virgin for salvation, powerless to resist militarily.
The raiders reached the Sea of Marmara, plundered the Princes’ Islands, and butchered captives with axes on their ships. Yet they never dared to assault the city walls, knowing they lacked the means for a full-scale siege. According to tradition, the city was saved when Photius processed with the Virgin’s sacred relic along the walls and dipped it into the sea. A sudden storm wrecked much of the Rus fleet, forcing a retreat and inspiring tales of divine intervention that may even have influenced the later Christianization of the Rus.
The Fiery Destruction of 941
A later account describes another Rus assault in 907, with 2,000 ships bypassing the chain by hauling vessels overland. Though colorful, this story is absent from Byzantine sources and may have been invented to explain a subsequent trade treaty.
The most destructive attempt came in 941. With the Byzantine army and navy again away, Prince Igor of Kiev descended on Constantinople with 1,000 ships and 40,000 men. Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos improvised, outfitting 15 old ships with siphons for Greek Fire—a terrifying incendiary weapon.
When Igor’s fleet tried to encircle them, the Byzantines unleashed jets of liquid flame. The Rus, weighed down by armor, drowned as they leapt into the sea, or burned alive as the fire clung to their bodies. Reinforcements soon arrived, and the shattered Rus retreated north.
From Enemies to Mercenaries
Half a century later, the Vikings would defend the city instead of attacking it. In 987, Emperor Basil II faced a rebellion and received aid from Prince Vladimir of Kiev, who sent 6,000 Norse warriors—the legendary Varangians.
Landing at Chrysopolis, they crushed the rebels. Their ferocity terrified opponents; the rebel leader Phokas reportedly died of a stroke at the sight of them. Impressed, Basil established the elite Varangian Guard, composed mainly of Norsemen, as his personal bodyguards.
The Varangians were richly rewarded with silk and treasure, and tales of Constantinople’s legendary wealth spread back to Scandinavia. For centuries, they fought in every major Byzantine campaign—from Sicily to the Holy Land—until the Crusaders sacked the city in 1204. Their presence is still marked in Hagia Sophia, where runic graffiti carved by Varangian guards can be faintly read, including the name “Halfdan.”
The End of the Viking Era in Byzantium
Over time, the Viking presence in Constantinople faded, but not without leaving a deep imprint. Some returned home with riches and stories; others settled permanently, adopting Orthodox Christianity and merging into local populations across the Byzantine world and Eastern Europe.
As in Scandinavia, the Vikings did not simply vanish—they evolved, taking on new roles in the lands they once sought to plunder.
Sources: history.com, byzantium.gr, lifeinnorway.net, thecollector.com, warhistoryonline.com, wikipedia.org
Originally published 01/06/2023 on Reader.gr
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