Vikings Return to the Caucasus and Turkmenistan

The Vikings were certainly well-travelled folk. According to the Georgian chronicle Kartlis Tsovreba,

In the beginning of the 1040s an armed force with Varjagi, i.e. Scandinavians, came to the small place Bashi, situated by the river Rioni in Georgia… [I]t is stated that they were 3000 men and presumably they had been rowing up the river after sailing eastwards on the Black Sea, most likely from the estuary of the Dnjepr River… Both the geographical area, the course of events and the time period make it probable that the story in the Georgian chronicle is a trace of the fatal Swedish expedition by the chieftain, Ingvar den Vittfarne (Ingvar the Far-Travelled), mentioned on at least 26 rune stones in mid-Sweden as well as in an imaginative saga from Iceland. [link]

Now a group of modern Scandanavians are planning to recreate the voyage, Kon-Tiki style.

A group of modern day Vikings is sailing and rowing to the Caspian Sea. They are retracing the route taken by the Viking chief Ingvar den Vittfarne (Ingvar the far-travelled). The Vittfarne Expedition would terminate in Baku in August 2004.

In 1036, Ingvar den Vittfarne led a fleet from what is now known as Sweden to the Caspian Sea. He navigated the Russian waterways to the Black Sea and from there, most probably continued down the Georgian river Rioni. After hauling his boats across land, he is believed to have continued his journey via the Mtkvari River in Georgia, which is known as Kur in Azerbaijan south eastward to the Caspian.

It is believed that Vittfarne even reached as far as Gara Bugaz located in present-day Turkmenistan.

If you can read Swedish, the expedition’s site is here; if, like me, you can’t, you can still get a few maps of the proposed expedition by clicking on links on this page.

The Vittfarne Expedition is the brainchild of the archaeologist Mats G. Larsson, Ph.D. Adventurer Håkan Altrock is the expedition leader.

The boat, especially created for the expedition, is named Sexaringen, a beautiful river queen 9.75 meters long and 1.86 meters across the beams. The boat is modelled on the ancient Viking design called Himinglava. The crew consists of nine members.

The expedition, apart from matching the endurance of ancient Vikings, hopes to develop international relations and goodwill along the route. It also expects to explore business possibilities for Swedish businessmen through the area it covers during the journey.

The expedition would arrive Poti on 14 June 2004 and will then continue on the Rioni and Mtkvari (Kura) rivers with hopes of reaching Baku by mid-August.

Phluzein put me on the scent.