Italy runestones and Langbarðaland

Guðlaug had the stones raised in memory of Holmi, her son. He died in Lombardy.

Guðlaug let ræisa stæina at Holma, sun sinn. Hann do a Langbarðalandi. 

-- Old Norse transcription of "U 141" runestone (see image)
 
Apparently his mother requested that two runestones be carved and erected in honor of her son who died while serving in the Byzantine "Varagian Guard."

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The Italy runestones with English translation
 
BirkaViking
 
The Italy runestones with English translation from the Scandinavian runic-text database.

The young men who applied for a position in the Varangian guard were not uncouth roughnecks, as in the traditional stereotype, but instead, it appears that they were usually fit and well-raised young warriors who were skilled in weapons. They were the kind of warriors who were welcome as the elite troops of the Byzantine Emperor, and who the rulers of Kievan Rus requested from Scandinavia when they were under threat.

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Italy runestones (Wikipedia)

The Italy Runestones are three or four Varangian Runestones from 11th-century Sweden that talk of warriors who died in Langbarðaland ("Land of the Lombards"), the Old Norse name for Italy. On these rune stones it is southern Italy that is referred to (Langobardia), but the Rundata project renders it rather anachronistically as Lombardy (see the translations of the individual stones, below).

The rune stones are engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark, and two of them are found in Uppland and one or two in Södermanland.

Langbard duchies Spoleto and Benevento in blue

The memorials are probably raised in memory of members of the Varangian Guard, the elite guard of the Byzantine Emperor, and they probably died while fighting in southern Italy against the local Lombard principalities or the invading Normans. Many of their brothers-in-arms are remembered on the 28 Greece Runestones most of which are found in the same part of Sweden.

The young men who applied for a position in the Varangian guard were not uncouth roughnecks, as in the traditional stereotype, but instead, it appears that they were usually fit and well-raised young warriors who were skilled in weapons. They were the kind of warriors who were welcome as the elite troops of the Byzantine Emperor, and who the rulers of Kievan Rus' requested from Scandinavia when they were under threat. 


Interpretations

Johan Peringskiöld (d. 1720) considered the Fittja stone and the Djulefors stone to refer to the Lombard migration from Sweden, whereas Celsius (1727) interpreted them in a strikingly different manner. He noted that the name Longobardia was not applied to Italy until after the destruction of the Kingdom of the Lombards in 774. He claimed that the kingdom had been taken over by Varangians from Byzantium in the 11th and 12th centuries, and noted that in Barbarossa's campaign in Italy there were many Scandinavian warriors. The stones would have commemorated Swedish warriors who died in Barbarossa's war. This view was also espoused by Brocman (1762) who considered Holmi to have died in the 12th century for either the Byzantine Emperor or ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

von Friesen (1913) noted that it is not Lombardy in northern Italy that is intended, but Langobardia in southern Italy, which was ruled by the Byzantine Emperor during the 11th century. The Greeks had to fight several battles against the Normans in southern Italy during the mid-11th century. It is likely that Holmi, who is mentioned on two stones, took part in these battles as a member of the Byzantine Emperor's elite unit, the Varangian Guard, since they use a name based on the Greek name for the region.

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It would be curious to know what contact may have occurred between the Vikings and the Langbard Kingdom, since the kingdom's demise and the start of what is considered the "Viking Age" were only a few years apart. It's also possible that, since these warriors probably died in Southern Italy, the location was in the southern Langobard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento. These two states continued on after Langbard was destroyed by Charlemagne. These Vikings likely had been Christianized by this time, as this was the on the verge of or past the point of the Viking Age. They had been brought into the Christian fold.

Inga raised this stone in memory of Óleifr, her son. He ploughed his stern to the east, and met his end in the land of the Lombards.

Inga ræisti stæin þannsi at Olæif sun sinn. Hann austarla arði barði ok a Langbarðalandi andaðis.

-- Old Norse transcription of "Sö 65" runestone (see image)

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'Odin worship of the Lombards & Benevento': Part II

The legend of the witches of Benevento

It is possible to trace the origins of the legend of the witches back to ancient Samnium and Rome when, in the 4th century BC ancient settlers from the shores of Magna Graecia came settled in the Samnium region, and brought with them their customs like the worship of the orgiastic feast of Cybele. When Ovid sang about the horrendous bloody child sacrifices, the saga – known already in the 13th century – spread rapidly throughout Italy and Europe in 1600. In Benevento, true place of origin of the legend, learned arguments were being held about it.

Other cities, had often gained an unhappy reputation because of the witches, but Benevento being the birth place of these legends rather than gain the evil reputation for its monstrous practices, has inspired poets and artists over the centuries. The legend was born when the belief of the existence of witches was associated with the echoes of mysterious orgies the Lombards preformed. The Lombards had made Benevento the capital of their vast southern Duchy. In the late VII century, faithful to their own national traditions, instead of converting to Catholicism, as was required of them they carried on the cult of Wotan, the father of the gods.

They gathered outside the city walls, around a sacred tree from which they hung the skin of a buck and between a run and the other, they shot at it with arrows and then ate a piece of it. The inhabitants of Benevento, being good Catholics were horrified and scared and to them these rites seemed demonic. Meanwhile descriptions of these rites transformed them into something wonderful.

The custom of these ceremonies ended because of the conversion imposed by Duke Romualdo II and its people. The Duke fearing that he could not defeat the Byzantine Emperor Constants, promised to Bishop Saint Barbato the elimination of these pagan practices in exchange for salvation. When the salvation miraculously came, and even after the demonic walnut tree was chopped down, the mysterious rumors continued to circulate. At that point the legend had already formed, and in it the warriors had been replaced by evil women dancing frantically around the tree, the cries of war had been replaced by the sounds of the raging orgy, and it was said that even the devil in the form of a buck took part, the morsel of buck skin was also replaced, in its stead there was a plentiful banquet.

The conquering Lombards heightened the splendor and prestige of Benevento by supporting literature and the arts. The city became a Papal enclave in the Kingdom of Naples, and host to various other civilizations, from the fervent and promising early middle ages to the light of the Renaissance, the legend continued to grow and to be enriched by facts, until finally in the Baroque age the legend reached its final version, which is the one we know today.

Around the magical Walnut tree at night two thousand or more witches congregate, each is guided by a demonic guardian – Martinello or Martinetto – who is at the same time lover and servant, and that, before the ride on their broomsticks, rubs his woman with a magic ointment, and there, by the light of the torches. They then worship the Devil who appears disguised as a buck and rewards the best witches and punishes the bad ones. The orgy begins and if a novice shows up who has given up her faith, the King of darkness will make her swear by the blood squeezed out of her left breast to be like all witches, to be at least once a month adulterous and murderous and sow unabated malice and hate, he then assigns her a Martinello and promises long life, prosperity and all sorts of good things. 

The summoning of Jesus and the Virgin Mary or the ringing of the bells of Matins and the cockcrow that announces the rising dawn dissolves this terrible scene. The fascination of the legend is expressed only in Benevento by an unknown and inexperienced seventeenth century painter. The painter in his simplicity has been able to inspire poets, writers and musicians from very different walks of life. Amongst the inspired we find the problematic author of “the flower,” the fourteenth-century Ser Durante and the merry Redi with “The Hunchback of Peretola”, S. Bernardino from Siena that in his passionate sermons asks with zeal for the extermination of all witches and Agnolo Fiorenzuola. Since a long time that Benevento legend has been part of the real literature, and music. Franz Xavier pupil of Mozart and Salieri with his composition “the walnut tree of Benevento” has inspired one of the most unique works by Paganini, entitled “the witches”.

But in Benevento, other than the interesting pictorial document and the erudite disputes that rarely left the city confines, something remarkable was needed, something that would be world famous that would match the greatest works of genius. That something - anybody can see that it is not an exaggeration- was to be the sublime liquor that Giuseppe Alberti created more than a century ago. Given the bewitching quality of this liqueur Alberti had no choice but to call it “Strega”

'Odin worship of the Lombards & Benevento': Part 1

This text was taken from the Traditional Stregheria Yahoo Group forum. My comment is the third one. It's easy to forget that the Langbard "duchies" of Spoleto and Benevento in Southern Italy continued on long after Charlemagne destroyed the Langobard Kingdom.

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Hey everyone. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!!!!  :O)

So, I have a short topic for discussion, if anyone might find it interesting? 

I was wondering what any of you who share an interest might think, and/or if there are experts on the subject here, about the Lombard worship of Odin in Benevento, the "golden viper" of Duke Romualdo and his father King Grimoaldo and the rites being performed in the sacred wood there, versus the older Pagan traditions being practiced there before (and continuing during) Lombard rule?  Especially since it was during this time that the story of the Walnut tree being cut down, etc., comes to us.   I.e., Nerthus vs Diana, conflation of serpent veneration between cultures, conflation of other rites and customs, etc.   Any thoughts?

Spoleto

If this has already been discussed here in the past, my apologies.  I am having a horrible time trying to navigate Yahoogroups now, don't like it and have moved away from it myself.  I still value these groups I am still on as a member, though, but Yahoo has made it hard (or more likely I am just an computer illiterate dinosaur, lol) to find old threads quickly and easily..... 

Thanks!  Love, Li

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Holiday Blessings to All!
As Sicily was invaded by about four or five other nations/cultures I am sure there is more cross-over than we would think. I know, for instance, that a burial site of a Celtic king was found in Italy, so I would imagine it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that Sicily also has many influences including the Viking-originated Odin-worshippers.

[CR]

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Hi Li,

There were about half a million Langobards and their allies who invaded the north, and most were Germanic pagans (aka “Odinists” – although they referred to him as Godan). They seemed to continue with it until the rein of Queen Theodelinda, who promoted the Catholic Church.That’s a good question, what about the southern duchies? I could be wrong, but it seems to me that in the north the Langobards were mainly living in the centers of power.. the cities; so it doesn’t appear to have influenced the ‘old religion’ in the countryside.. such as the Valtellina.

Just the info that you shared is fascinating. I had never heard of that before. Long before, in many places in Europe, Odin (also Tyr possibly) was conflated with the local “horned god.” Cernunnos was very likely one such result from that; and Sirona possibly may have originated from the old goddess with Freya perhaps.

Some of this various “combining” can be confusing... and may well have led to very local goddesses and gods with their real origin lost in time. In some cases, unfortunately, the heads of some of the old statues were broken off to make way for a new deity; and the culprits weren’t just Christians either. I find it amazing that the Old Religion has survived so many influences largely unchanged. Even the Etruscans were really just another incoming “influence.” So different regions have different flavors of the same basic thing.

I wish I could add something to what you presented. I can already see that there are items on this subject online to look at, as here:
http://www.tizianoweb.com/1/strega_alberti_1468277.html
In some forest locations in central Europe, a “red cross” was placed at the exact locations of formerly sacred Odinic sites, such as Irminsuls, which Charlemagne had demolished. Apparently this was a way of disguising it; forcing it to become underground… “occultic.”

~Merry Blood Moon~

Camunlynx

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