On This Day
1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.
The Battle of Svolder (Svold or Swold)[2] was the largest naval battle of the Viking age, fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between King Olaf of Norway and an alliance of the Kings of Denmark and Sweden and Olaf’s enemies in Norway. The backdrop of the battle was the unification of Norway into a single independent state after longstanding Danish efforts to control the country, combined with the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia.
King Olaf Tryggvason was sailing to, or home from, an expedition in Wendland (Pomerania), when he was ambushed by an alliance of Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olof Skötkonung (also known as Olaf Eiríksson or Olaf the Swede), King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson, Jarl of Lade. King Olaf of Norway had only 11 warships in the battle against a fleet of at least 70.[3] His ships were captured one by one, last of all the Ormen Lange, which Jarl Eirik captured as Olaf threw himself into the sea. After the battle, Norway was ruled by the Jarls of Lade as a fief of Denmark and Sweden.
The exact location of the battle is disputed, and depends on which group of sources is preferred: Adam of Bremen places it in Øresund, while Icelandic sources place the battle near an island called Svolder, which is otherwise unknown.
The most detailed sources on the battle, the kings’ sagas, were written approximately two centuries after it took place. Historically unreliable, they offer an extended literary account describing the battle and the events leading up to it in vivid detail. The sagas ascribe the causes of the battle to Olaf Tryggvason’s ill-fated marriage proposal to Sigrid the Haughty and his problematic marriage to Thyri, sister of Svein Forkbeard. As the battle starts Olaf is shown dismissing the Danish and Swedish fleets with ethnic insults and bravado while admitting that Eirik Hákonarson and his men are dangerous because “they are Norwegians like us”. The best known episode in the battle is the breaking of Einarr Þambarskelfir’s bow, which heralds Olaf’s defeat.
In later centuries, the saga descriptions of the battle, especially that in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla, have inspired a number of ballads and other works of literature.
Born On This Day
1927 – Tatyana Zaslavskaya, Russian sociologist and economist (d. 2013)
Tatyana Zaslavskaya (Russian: Татьяна Ивановна Заславская, September 9, 1927 – August 23, 2013) was a Russian economic sociologist and a theoretician of perestroika. She was the prime author of the Novosibirsk Report and several books on the economy of the Soviet Union (specializing in agriculture) and in sociology of the countryside. She was a member of the Consulting Committee to the President of Russia from 1991 to 1992 and also a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Zaslavskaya was the founder of VCIOM and also its director in the years from 1987 to 1992. In 2000 she was the Laureate of the Demidov Prize and the honorary president of the Levada Center.
FYI
1 month ago
Update: Statler has sadly passed away at the age of 34. RIP.
Recipes
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: Irresistible Cheesy Chicken Dinners
RecipeTinEats
- New Orleans Chicken Wings November 19, 2024Why settle for plain chicken wings when you can have bold, spicy, New Orleans sass?! Tossed in Creole seasoning and garlic butter then baked until golden, the smell alone will make you drool. Easy enough for dinner, excellent for parties. Get in my belly! New Orleans Chicken Wings Today’s recipe is inspired by New Orleans... […]Nagi
- Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger October 24, 2024This is my copycat of the FAMOUS Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger! A homemade Peri Peri Sauce does double duty as the marinade for the Portuguese style grilled chicken and to make a tingly creamy Peri Peri “Perinaise” pink sauce. Excellent for summer BBQs! Nando’s copycat Peri Peri Chicken Burgers Nando’s is a global chain... […]Nagi
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- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 23 November 23, 2024Picture of the day Rainbow yarn for knitting displayed in front of a needlework shop in Graz, Austria
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 22 November 22, 2024Picture of the day Sanderling (Calidris alba) looking for food on the beach of Westkapelle, Netherlands
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