KVENLAND - KAINUUNMAA - POHJOLA provided by Bravenet.com

A dress, jewlery and sword from a female tomb in Finland (c. 1100 AD).

Bronze Age (1800-500 BC) and Iron Age (500 BC - 1300 AD) weaponry from Finland.

Some of the finest Iron Age findings are from Finland, including exquisite Merovigian swords (550 AD - 800) - the largest amount of them are from Germany and Finland.
Photo: Riders of Kemiö at the annual Häme Medieval Fair.

Land of the Kvens

Since the end of the last ice age c. 9000 BC, Scandinavia and Fennoscandia have been continuously inhabited by Finnic tribes and the Ugric Sami.

Kvenland was the name of the country inhabited by the Kvens and the Sami, which still at the end of the Viking Age (c. 1100) covered all of the Central and Northern parts of Scandinavia and Fennoscandia.

The Kvens travelled to and they had an impact on far away places, such as the Northern Orkney Islands whose Scottish people they mixed with.

Not much is known of the early kings of Kvenland, but their names and their family lineages are.

"... the Kvens carry their ships over land into the meres, and thence make depredations on the Northmen; they have very little ships, and very light."

~ Othere, c. 890

Kven clan lineages

Hversu Noregr byggðist ('How Norway was inhabited') is an account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages.

It traces the descendants of the primeval Finnish ruler Fornjót down to Nór, who is here the eponym and first great king of Norway, and then gives details of the descendants of Nór and of his brother Gór in the following section known as the Ættartölur ('Genealogies', a.k.a. Fundinn Noregr, "Founding of Norway").

The Hversu account is closely paralleled by the opening of the Orkneyinga saga.

The 'Genealogies' also claims that many heroic families famed in Scandinavian tradition but not located in Norway were of the Kven stock, mostly sprung from Nór's great-grandson Halfdan the Old.

Almost all the lineages sprung from Halfdan are then shown to lead to the person of Harald Fairhair, the first king of "all Norway". This information can be confirmed in other sources.

The 'Ættartölur' account ends to a genealogy of Harald's royal descendants down to Olaf IV of Norway, with the statement that the account was written in 1387, and with a list of the kings of Norway from this Olaf back to Harald Fair-hair.

King Fornjót

Fornjót (Fornjótr in Old Norse, Caelic in Old English, Calewa in ancient Russian, Kalev in Estonian, Kaleva in Finnish folklore; also known as Ymir and Iku-Turso) was a primeval Finnish ruler, known from ancient contexts.

Medieval Norse accounts descrbibe Fornjót as a king who ruled over Finland, Kvenland and Gotland. Fornjót's children were Ægir (a.k.a. Hlér, ruler of seas), Logi (fire giant) and Kári (god of wind).

Fornjót's name has often been interpreted as forn-jótr, "ancient giant", and because of this Karl Simrock (1869) identified Formjót with the primeval giant Ymir.

In 1818, historian Müller suggested that Fornjót is one in a well-established group of names or titles of gods under the term 'njótr', referring to "user, owner, possessor".

This would make Fornjót the "original owner" (primus occupans vel utens) of Norway.

Fornjót is mentioned in the 9th century Ynglingatal, skaldic ("courtly") poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, the oldest dynasty in Scandinavia.

In Ynglingatal, "son of Fornjót" seems to refer to fire, as in Skáldskaparmál, one of the three distinct books of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, in c. 1220, in this manner:

"How should the wind be periphrased? Thus: call it son of Fornjót, Brother of the Sea and of Fire, Scathe or Ruin or Hound or Wolf of the Wood or of the Sail or of the Rigging."

Offspring of Fornjót

Fornjót's son Kári is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál as a term for wind. In the Hversu and Orkneyinga saga accounts Kári appears to be the heir to his father's kingdoms, as in the Hversu account Kári's descendants emerge not only as rulers of Finland and Kvenland, but also Sweden, and through the Viking and Varangian conquests many other nations as well.

Kári' son was named Frosti ('frost'), according to the Orkneyinga saga, and Jökul (jǫkull, 'icicle, ice, glacier') according to the Hversu account.

Frosti was the father of Snær the Old ('Snow the Old'), who according to Sturlaugs saga was also the King of Finnmark, i.e. the northernmost part of Scandinavia and Kvenland.

Snær's daughter Drifa married King Vanlandi of Upsal, Sweden, as stated e.g. in the Ynglinga saga. Their son Visbur became the King of the House of Ynglings, succeeded by his son Dómaldi, King of Sweden.

Snaer was succeeded by his son Thorri as the King of Kvenland, Finland and Gotland. Thorri's children were Gói ('Thin Snow'), Gór and Nór, who was the founder of Norway and forefather for Halfdan the Old, of whom many royal families of Europe descended from.

Based on the Ynglinga saga, Frosti's daughter Skjálf married the King Agne of Sweden. He was succeeded by the legendary Swedish King Yngvi, according to the Íslendingabók and the Historia Norwegiæ. However, the account of Ynglingatal gives the sons Alrekr and Eirikr as Agne's successors.

In Orkneyinga saga

"There was a king called Fornjót who ruled over Finland and Kvenland, the countries stretching to the east of what we call the Gulf of Bothnia, which lies opposite the White Sea.

Fornjót had three sons, Hler (whom we also call AEgir), a second called Logi and a third, Kari, the father of Frosti, who was in turn the father of Snaer the Old, the father of Thorri. He had two sons, Nór and Gór and a daughter, Gói."

Fornjót was also the father of Karl, Hlessey, and Gmir.

Nór founded Norway (Nór's way), and Gor was known as the "Sea King".

Goi was abducted by Hrolf of Bjard, son of the giant Svadi. Nór challenged Hrolf for the return of his sister, and the battle ended with Nór getting Hrolf's sister for his wife and Hrolf keeping Goi as his wife.

The Orkneyinga Saga goes on to say:

"Earl Rognvald campaigned with King Harald Fine Hair who gave him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale. Earl Rognvald married Ragnhild, the daughter of Hrolf Nose, and it was their son, Hrolf, who conquered Normandy.

This Hrolf was so big that no horse could carry him, which is why he was given the name Gongu-Hrolf. The earls of Rouen and the kings of England have descended from him."

Neighbors of Kvens

The chronicle of King Alfred the Great from 890 states what other historic accounts and maps confirm:

On the Viking Age, the Scandinavian peninsula was inhabited by the Danes, Geats, Kvens, Norse, Sami and Sveas.

The Danes, Geats, Norse and Sveas inhabited southern parts of Scandinavia.

The central and northern parts of Scandinavia, most of the modern-day Finland and the northwestern corner of the modern-day Russia were Kvenland, which was inhabited by the Kvens and the Sami.

In the Middle Ages, only the southernmost part of today's Finland was called Finland.

It was inhabited by Finnic tribes such as the Tavastians (hämäläiset) in the west and the Savonians (savolaiset) northeast from them.

The Finnic Bjärmians ("Viena Karelians") lived east from the Kvens, on the southern and southeastern shores of the White Sea and the surrounding areas in today's Northwestern Russia.

Karelians inhabited the territories east and southeast from Kvenland.

The chronicle by King Alfred the Great notes that Kvenland was located around big bodies of waters (Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, Gulf of Bothnia, White Sea), by large fjords (e.g. Varangerfjord) and by large lakes (Lakes Inari, Oulu, etc.), and by large rivers (Kainuunväylä - a.k.a. Kalix River -, Torne River, Kemijoki River, etc.).

A Viking Age medal from Finland, shown from both sides. It is believed to feature a Finnish king.

1. Bronze Age spearhead, dating to c. 1800-500 BC.

2. Skies found in Salla and Heletti in Kvenland date to 3623–3110 BC.

3. World's oldest sleigh runner, dating to c. 7000 BC.

Kven Kings

The largest cairn, Iron Age (c. 500 BC - 1000 AD) tomb made of stones, in Scandinavia is found in Finland. It is called the King's Tomb and according to the legend a king was buried there. It is not known which king. The cairn is 30 meters long and 4 meters tall.

Medieval Kven rulers of Europe

Based on the medieval sources below, countless members of the ruling families of England, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Normandy, Norway, the Orkney Islands, Russia, Scotland and Sweden - among others - descended from the Finnic Kven kings.

These heroic figures mostly sprung from Halfdan the Old, the great-grandson of Nór, who was the founder of Norway and a descendant of Fornjót, a King of Kvenland, Finland and Gotland.

The royal Kven Dynasty spread eastward through Rurik. Rurik founded the Rurik Dynasty which ruled Russia until the 17th century. Numerous noble Russian and Ruthenian families claim a male-line descent from Rurik, and via Anne of Kiev, wife of Henry I of France.

The Kven Dynasty spread into France also through the Viking King Rollo, the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. Rollo's descendants were the Dukes of Normandy.

The family lineage leading from Fornjót to Rollo is introduced in the Orkneyinga, Heimskringla and Hversu Noregr byggðist ('How Norway was inhabited') sagas - in the 'Ættartölur' ("Genealogies") section of the 'Hversu' account in particular.

That line includes Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (c. 825-892), son of Eystein Ivarsson. Rognvald is the founder of the 'Earldom of Orkney', a Kven-Norse dignity in Scotland. The title was passed down the same family line through the Middle Ages.

In 97 (c.), Roman P.G. Tacitus describes Kvens (Sitones), living north of the Suiones (Swedes), and says that they are led by a woman.

In 150 (c.), in 'Geographia', Ptolemy mentions twice the Phinnoi ("Finns") of Scandinavia.

In 320 (c.), Nór, a descendant of King Fornjót, founds Norway, based on the information given in the c. 1230 Orkneyinga saga and the c. 1387 Hversu Noregr byggðist ('How Norway was settled'). The royal lineages sprung from him and his brother Gór are discussed in these and other medieval sources.

In 551, the Roman Jordanes' writing in the 'De origine actibusque Getarum', a.k.a. Getica, about the 'Vinoviloth' is seen by many historians as a reference to the Kvens:

And there are beyond these the Eastern Geats (Ostrogothae), Romerike (Raumarici), Rankike (Aeragnaricii), and the most gentle Finni, milder than all the inhabitants of Scandinavia (Scandza). Like them are the Vinoviloth (Kvens) also.

Getica - compiled in Constantinople - tells about the origins and history of the Gothic people. It also mentions the "Adogit" people, living in the far north in Scandinavia ("Scandza"). This is seen as a possible reference to the petty kingdom of Hålogaland, which based on medieval evidence was inhabited by the Kvens in the middle of the first millennium, but perhaps also a long before.

According to Emeritus Professor Kyösti Julku (Kvenland - Kainuunmaa, 1986), in the modern-day Northern Norwegian county of Troms alone there are at least 12 prehistorical Kven place names. During Viking Age, Troms formed the northernmost part of Hålogaland.

Alex Woolf (From Pictland to Alba, 2007) links the name Hålogaland to the Aurora Borealis - the "Northern Lights" -, saying that Hålogaland meant the "Land of the High Fire", "loga" deriving from 'logi', which refers to fire.

In the medieval accounts of Ynglingatal and Skáldskaparmál, "Logi" is described as the personification of fire, a fire giant, and as a "son of Fornjót". In the medieval Orkneyinga saga and in 'Hversu Noregr byggðist', Fornjót is described as theruler of Finland, Kvenland and Gotland. The royal lineages sprung from his children are discussed in other medieval accounts.

The beginning of the 'Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar' ('Saga of Thorstein son of Víking') discusses King Logi who ruled the country north of Norway. Because Logi was larger and stronger than any other man in land, his name was lengthened from Logi to Hálogi, meaning 'High-Logi', and derived from that name his country became called Hálogaland, "Hálogi's-land" (modern-day Hålogaland).

In the 6th century, according to Wildsith - copied in the 10th century Exeter book -, Finland is ruled by King Caelic (Kaleva).

"Caesar ruled the Greeks, Caelic the Finns ... I was with the Greeks and Finns and also with Caesar ..."

In 750 (c.), the Norna-Gests þáttr mentions that the king of Denmark and Sweden Sigurd Ring fought against the invading Finnic Curonians and Kvens in the southernmost part of today's Sweden:

"Sigurd Ring (Sigurðr) was not there, since he had to defend his land, Sweden (Svíþjóð), since Curonians and Kvens were raiding there."

In 760, Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians, according to Egil's saga (c. 1240).

In 790 (c.), Paul the Deacon decribes how the Lombards descended from the Winnili, believed to be the Kvens of Finnweden. They ruled a kingdom in Italy from 567 to 774. Skridfinnar (Sami) are also discussed.

In 862 (c.), Prince Rurik founds Russia, according to the Primary Chronicle (c. 1113). Based on medieval sources, Rurik was from Roslagen, a part of the primeval Kvenland. Recent DNA studies confirm Rurik to have been Finnic.

In 873, the Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians, according to the Egil's saga (from c. 1240). The chapter XVII of Egil's saga describes how Thorolf Kveldulfsson - King of Norway's tax chief starting 872 - from Namdalen, located in the southernmost tip of the historical Hålogaland, goes to Kvenland again:

"That same winter Thorolf went up on the fell with a hundred men; he passed on at once eastwards to Kvenland and met King Faravid."

Based on medieval documents, the above meeting took place during the winter of 873-874.

In 888 (c.), the oldest known written use of the term 'Kven', with nearly that spelling, is made in the 'Account of the Viking Othere', a report of the geopolitical landscape of the North, based on the Norse Viking adventurer Ottar's voyage through the oceanic coasts of Northern Scandinavia and today's extreme Northwestern Russia.

In this account, the Kvens are referred to as "Cwenas" who live in "Cwena land". This was the first genuine and comprehensive account of the North. Thus, it is a principle source in studies relating to the Nordic history.

In 890, Ottar reports the findings to King Alfred of Wessex, who has Ottar's account included to the omissions and additions added to the Universal History of Orosius, republished by King Alfred. The book is partially work of Orosius and partially of King Alfred.

The Kven Sea is mentioned as the northern border for ancient Germany. The location of Kvenland is also explained in the following ways:

Ottar (Ohthere) said that the Norwegians' (Norðmanna) land was very long and very narrow ... and to the east are wild mountains, parallel to the cultivated land. Sami people (Finnas) inhabit these mountains ... Then along this land southwards, on the other side of the mountain (sic), is Sweden ... and along that land northwards, Kvenland (Cwenaland).
The Cwenas (Kvens) sometimes make depredations on the Northmen over the mountain, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are very large freshwater meres amongst the mountains, and the Kvens carry their ships over land into the meres, and thence make depredations on the Northmen; they have very little ships, and very light.

(Notably, there is a reference in the Orkneyinga saga to the southern Norwegian lake district, including Lake Mjøsa. The Orkneyinga saga tells how the inhabitants there were attacked by men from Kvenland.)

... the Swedes (Sweons) have to the south of them the arm of the sea called East (Osti), and to the east of them Sarmatia (Sermende), and to the north, over the wastes, is Kvenland (Cwenland), to the northwest are the Sami people (Scridefinnas), and the Norwegians (Norðmenn) are to the west.

In 1007 (c), King Olaf II of Norway (Olaf II Haraldsson, Saint Olaf) plundered in Finland and almost got himself killed at the Battle at Herdaler, according to the Saga of Olaf Haraldson, a saga within the Heimskringla saga.

In 1075, the German chronicler Adam of Bremen discusses Kvens in 'Gesta'. He calls Kvenland "Terra Feminarum" ("Women's Territory"), paralleling the remarks made by P.C. Tacitus in 97.

In 1154, Muhammad al-Idrisi tells that the King of FMRK has possessions in Norway.

"Fmrk" refers to the modern-day Norwegian province of Finnmark (Finn "land"), a part of the primeval Kvenland.

In 1157 (c.), in his geographical chronicle 'Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan', the Icelandic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson (Nikolaos) provides descriptions of the lands near Norway:

Closest to Denmark is little Sweden (Svíþjóð), there is Öland (Eyland); then is Gotland (Gotland); then Hälsingland (Helsingaland); then Värmland (Vermaland); then two Kvenlands (Kvenlönd), and they extend to north of Bjarmia (Bjarmalandi).

In 1170, Historia Norvegiae tells about Kvenland and the Kvens who served pagan gods.

In 1187, Sigtuna, a medieval center in the modern area of Sweden, is attacked by raiders from east, according to Eric's Chronicle from c. 1335. The Finnish Karelians were blamed, perhaps because Sweden now faced threats from the direction of karelia by Novgorod.

Professor Kustaa Vilkuna presumes the Sigtuna raid to have been a revenge for the Sigtuna merchants having intruded Kven fisheries at the River Kemijoki and the hunting grounds of the Karelians. Accordingly, it is possible that the Kvens may have participated in the Sigtuna raid.

The medieval naming of a settlement in the village of Liedakkala by the River Kemijoki as "Sihtuuna" may derive from this.

In 1216, the Danish Saxo Grammaticus writes in 'Gesta Danorum' about the Finnish and Kven kings and the Scandinavian royal families.

Grammaticus' account shares likeness, many characters and stories with the writings of Snorri Sturluson. According to both, many heroic Scandinavian figures have Finnish roots.

In reference to the legendary Battle of Bråvalla (c. 750), where the Swedes fought the Geats, Grammaticus names a few such heros:

''Now the bravest of the Swedes were these: Arwakki, Keklu-Karl ..."

In 1220, in the Ynglinga Saga, the Icelandic Snorri Sturluson discusses marriages between and wars of the Finnish and Swedish royal families. Fornjót's great-grandson Old Snow is mentioned in relation to Finland.

The saga tells about the Ynglings, the oldest known Scandinavian dynasty and a semi-legendary royal Swedish clan during the Age of Migrations, 300–700. The clan's kings, including e.g. King Ongenpeow (d. c. 515) and his sons Onela and Ohthere, descended from Kven kings.

The spelling "Ongenpeow" is believed to refer to 'Ongenpoika' ("fisher boy" in Finnish) or 'Onnenpoika' ("lucky boy").

"Onela" (Onnela) in Finnish means "happy place". The double consonants of Finnish names (such as Onnela) are regularly substituted by a single consonant in Germanic texts (as in "Onela"), even today.

"Ohthere" derives from the Proto-Norse 'Ōhtaharjaz'. 'Ohtaharjas' is Finnish, "ohta" meaning "forehead" in the Ostrobothnian dialect of Finnish, and "Harjas" meaning "bristle", "prickle" and "brush" in Finnish. Historians widely agree Ostrobothnia to have been a part of the heartland of Kvenland.

Among other Kven leaders, these kings led the Sveas in battles against the Geats in the modern-day area of Southern Sweden at the time when approximately 2/3 of today's area of Sweden was inhabited and ruled by the Kvens.

'Ynglings' also refers to the Fairhair dynasty, descending from the Kven kings of Oppland, Norway, who had sprung from Nór's great-grandson Halfdan the Old. According to Orkneyinga Saga, Nór founded Norway. He was a direct descendant of Fornjót, the King of Finland, Kvenland and Gotland.

In 1220 (c.), in the Skáldskaparmál section of Edda, Snorri Sturluson discusses King Halfdan the Old, Nór's (Kven King Fornjót's descendant) great-grandson and his nine sons who are the forefathers of various royal lineages, including ...

"... Yngvi, from whom the Ynglings are descended".

In Skáldskaparmál, Snorri Sturluson also points in another way to the Finnish/Kven origin of the royal Yngling dynasty:

"One war-king was named Skelfir; and his house is called the House of Skilfings: his kindred is in Eastern Land."

At the time of Sturluson's statement above, in the early 13th century, the Swedish name commonly used for the modern-day area of Southern Finland was "Eastern Land", Österland in Swedish, referring to the eastern part of what was forming to become the Realm of Sweden.

From 1353 up to 1809, "Sweden proper" included (a gradually increasing part of) the present-day Republic of Finland as a fully integrated part of the realm, officially referred to as Österland ("Eastern Land"). After 1809 however the use of the term has been to distinguish the western part from the former eastern half of the realm, or Sweden from Finland.

In 1230, the introduction to the Orkneyinga Saga - a.k.a. Fundinn Noregr ('Foundation of Norway') - provides information about Fornjót, the "King of Finland and Kvenland" and the conquest of Norway by his descendant, Nór. The saga also provides details on the royal descendants of Gór, Nór's brother.

Based on the information given in this saga, the ruling families of Sweden, Norway, the Orkney Islands, Normandy and England descend from these Finnish and Kven kings.

The saga tells that the southern Norwegian lake district, including Lake Mjøsa (100 kilometers north from the modern-day Oslo), were attacked by men from Kvenland.

In 1240 (c.), the Egil's saga tells how the Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians. In chapter XVII, Thorolf Kveldulfsson (he became the King of Norway's tax chief in 872) from Namdalen, located in the southernmost tip of the historical Hålogaland, goes to Kvenland again:

"That same winter Thorolf went up on the fell with a hundred men; he passed on at once eastwards to Kvenland and met King Faravid."

Based on medieval documents, the above meeting took place during the winter of 873-874.

In 1251, the Karelians fight against the Norwegians.

In 1271, Icelandic annals report the following to have happened in the mid-northern part of today's Norway:

"Then Karelians and Kvens pillaged widely in Hålogaland."

In 1320 (through 1335), the Swedish "Eric's Chronicle" ('Erikskrönikan') is printed. It blames the Finnic Karelians for the burning of the Swedes' "capitol", Sigtuna, in 1187. A large part of the ancient Kvenland and the lands of the Sveas have by now melted together into a one new nation of Sweden. This may be the reason why the Kvens are not blamed for the raid which had taken place 1½ centuries before. Additionally, attacks against the Karelian were being planned at the time when the chronicle was written.

In 1387, Hversu Noregr byggðist traces the royal descendants of the primeval Finnish/Kven king Fornjót.

In 1438, an influential farmer of Vesilahti - in the area of the modern-day Finland -, named David, declares himself the King of Finland and begins to lead a dangerous peasant revolt. The revolt is defeated, however.

In 1539, the map of Scandinavia by Olaus Magnus shows a Kven settlement roughly in between today's Tromsa and Lofoten, named "Berkara Qvenar".

In 1543, Finnish clergyman Mikael Agricola finishes his translation of the New Testament into Finnish (published in 1548).

The book's introduction by Agricola includes a fictitious story about "crusades" to Finland, originally presented in the oldest surviving literary work in Swedish, the "Eric's Chronicle", written by an unknown author in c. 1320-1335 in Turku, Finland.

In mid 1500s, the first known Norwegian tax records discuss Kvens living in and near Hålagoland, the first known kingdom in what today is Norway.

In 1551, Mikael Agricola publishes book named "Psalms of David" ('Daavidin psalttari'). The book includes a list of ancient Finnish gods, and it names several Finnish kings.

In 1554, a history written by Johannes Magnus, expelled from Sweden for being Catholic, is published in Rome. In the book, Finland is represented as an ancient kingdom.

In 1555, the famous work by Olaus Magnus, 'A Description of the Northern Peoples', is published. Finland is described as an old kingdom.

In 1598 (through 1599), Finnish nobility and castle commanders fight on the side of King Sigismund against Duke Charles in the Swedish Civil War - e.g. in a campaign targeting the areas of Upland and Stockholm. Other Finns participated on both camps. After the victory of Charles, hard times begin for the Finnish nobility and clergy, with the launching of intentional and persistent Swedification.

In 1607, once King Karl IX of Sweden had strengthened his hold on the crown of Sweden, he appended to it the title 'King of the Caijaners', referring to the inhabitants of Kvenland (Kainuu), apparently using the title the first time on March 16, 1607.