Freygeirr (Old East Norse: FrøygæiRR, Modern Swedish: Fröger) was a Viking chieftain who probably led a leidang expedition. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the The institution known as leiðangr ( Old Norse) leidang ( Norwegian) leding, ( Danish) ledung [1] He is considered to have been active in the 1050s on the Baltic coast,[2] and he has been identified on six runestones, Gs 13, Dr 216, U 518, U 611, U 698 and U 1158. The Baltic expeditions runestones are Varangian Runestones in memory of men who took part in peaceful or warlike expeditions across the Baltic Sea, where Finland The Viking Runestones are Runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions See also Varangian Runestones The Greece Runestones comprise around 30 Runestones containing information related to voyages made by Scandinavians to "Greece" The Viking Runestones are Runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions The Baltic expeditions runestones are Varangian Runestones in memory of men who took part in peaceful or warlike expeditions across the Baltic Sea, where Finland [3]
On the runestone Gs 13, Freygeirr is reported to be the leader of an expedition to Tavastia:
- Gs 13: Brúsi had this stone erected in memory of Egill, his brother. The Baltic expeditions runestones are Varangian Runestones in memory of men who took part in peaceful or warlike expeditions across the Baltic Sea, where Finland Coat of arms of historical province of Tavastia in Finlandpng|right|150px]] Tavastia, Tavastland or Häme, is a historical province in the south of And he died in Tafeistaland, when Brúsi brought (= led?) the land's levy(?) (= army) in memory of , his brother. He travelled with Freygeirr. May God and God's mother help his soul. Sveinn and Ásmundr, they marked. [4]
In Denmark, there is a runestone in memory of a warrior who fell in Sweden while he was in the retinue of a man who was either named Friggir[4] or Freygeirr[5]:
- Dr 216: Ástráðr and Hildungr/Hildvígr/Hildulfr raised this stone in memory of Fraði/Freði, their kinsman. And he was then the terror(?) of men. And he died in Sweden and was thereafter the first(?) in(?) Friggir's(?) retinue(?) and then: all vikings. [4]
U 698 and U 611 are raised in memory of two men who died in the retinue of a warchief whose name has been reconstructed by runologists as Freygeirr:
- U 698: [. . . ] had the stone raised in memory of Ásgeirr, his son. He fell in Lífland, abroad in Freygeirr's(?) retinue. [4]
- U 611: Bjôrn and Steinfríðr had the stone raised in memory of Gísli. He fell abroad in Freygeirr's(?) retinue. [4]
There is also a runestone reporting where Freygeirr died, runestone U 518:
- U 518: Þorgerðr and Sveinn, they had this stone raised in memory of Ormgeirr and Ormulfr and Freygeirr. See also Varangian Runestones The Greece Runestones comprise around 30 Runestones containing information related to voyages made by Scandinavians to "Greece" He met his end in the sound of Sila (Selaön), and the others abroad in Greece. May God help their spirits and souls. [4]
The Rundata project places Freygeir's death near the island of Selaön in lake Mälaren. Selaön is the biggest island in Mälaren, Sweden, and covers 91 km² Lake Mälaren ( (historically occasionally referred to as Lake Malar in English is the third-largest Lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and According to another theory the runes isilu represent *isi[s]la and they are to be transcribed as *ī ey-sȳsla, i. e. "in Ösel" (Saaremaa). Saaremaa is the largest Island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2673 km². [6]
Another runestone mentioning a Freygeirr was raised by his sons:
- U 1158: Guðsteinn(?) and Eistr and . . . and Áki had the stone raised in memory of Freygeirr, their father. Lífsteinn cut these runes. [4]
Omeljan Pritsak remarks that Freygeir's son was named Eistr ("Estonian") and he connects the name to Freygeir's activities on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Omeljan Pritsak ( 7 April 1919, Luka Sambir County eastern Galicia – May 29, 2006, Boston MA) was the first Mykhailo [7] He further suggests that Freygeir's death took place during a joint Swedish-Kievan Rus' expedition against the Estonians of Saaremaa. Saaremaa is the largest Island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2673 km². [8]
Notes
Sources
- Jansson, Sven B. The Joint Nordic database for runic inscriptions ( Swedish: Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project started on January 1, 1993 at (1980). Runstenar. STF, Stockholm. ISBN 91-7156-015-7
- Pritsak, Omeljan. (1981). The origin of Rus'. Cambridge, Mass. : Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ISBN 0-674-64465-4
- Rundata
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