Swedish Vikings
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The Swedish Vikings were mainly known as the so-called Svees, giving name to the country's modern name [Sverige].
The Svees lived in the area north of Stockholm around present-day Uppsala and the inland lake Mälaren. They became wealthy through trade on south and eastern Europe, to some extent also Asian countries, and the Svees founded the first Swedish Viking settlement in Birka (immediately west of Stockholm). At its peak Birka had about 700 inhabitants and trades with merchants from near and far. Birka is one of the best preserved examples of Viking trading sites, and is now designated as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
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- Sweden 2003. Viking Artifacts from Birka. The first two stamps are
engraved by Czeslaw Slania, and the third by the Swedish engraver Lars
Sjööblom.
- Runic Stone at Birka.
- Man's Head at Birka.
- Viking Pendant. Rounded Cross.
In their expansion out of Sweden they made stopover to furnish supplies for further travels on the island of Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, where arose a wealthy community of tradesmen. Archaeologists have unearthed more than 100,000 silver coins on Gotland, some of them even from so distant places as Samarkand (in Uzbekistan) and Baghdad.
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Sweden 1990. The Vikings. Booklet pane of eight stamps. Scott # 1801-1808. The four stamps in the center are printed se-tenant in a composite design. The whole pane was engraved by Czeslaw Slania.
- To Miklagård. [Miklagård is the old Nordic name for Constantinople]. Carved Viking Head and moulded Dragon's Head.
- Out to Sea.
- The Town.
- Religious symbols of the Vikings.
- Stolen Treasures.
- At the helm.
- Landing.
- Vikings' weapons.
The Swedish Vikings were obsessed about "fire" and believed that their souls would disappear in an all-consuming inferno of fire. They buried their deceased fellows in ships together with his weapons and tools, and then set the boat on fire. The dead souls would then fly to Asgaard -- or sometimes to Valhal, the home of dead heroes.
Such
pagan customs are still sensed around Uppsala, where the Svees sacrificed humans
and animals in sacred groves. It is a fact that even in our times some people
gather here around bonfires on particular nights, establishing contact
with primitive forces, in particular with messengers carrying messages from the
dead.
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The bonfire-habit still remains throughout the Nordic countries on Midsummer Night (23rd June), when huge public bonfires adorned with a witch to be "sacrificed" and sent to Blocksbierg [Hell], are lit along the shores of a lake.
More Swedish Viking ships on stamps are shown on rock carvings in Tanum, whish in 1994 were designated World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.