During the Viking Age, Arctic Scandinavia was a source of exquisite furs, down, walrus ivory, and other commodities that met with high demand in England and on the Continent. Hitherto, the earliest firm evidence of this trade has been Ohthere’s account c. 890, but in light of this paper’s findings, its history may be pushed further back in time. Geological analyses of whetstones retrieved in eighth- to early ninth-century Ribe, south-western Jylland, in present-day western Denmark, demonstrate that the majority were quarried near the aristocratic manor Lade (‘loading/storing place’) in Trøndelag, present-day central Norway, some 1100 km by sea to the north. Because of their high numbers and durability, whetstones retrieved in Ribe and other urban sites may be regarded as a proxy for long-distance seaborne trade from the Arctic. The peak in this trade on the threshold of the Viking Age invites a reconsideration of the coinciding and conflicting interests of Scandinavian long-distance traders, kings, and Vikings. It is argued that coalitions and conflicts that arose from these interests, and new constraints and opportunities that emerged for these three types of agents, provide keys to understanding why and where Vikings raided overseas up to the mid-ninth century.

中文翻译：

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西方维京时代的开始

在维京时代，北极斯堪的纳维亚是精美毛皮、羽绒、海象象牙和其他商品的来源，这些商品在英格兰和欧洲大陆的需求量很大。迄今为止，这种交易的最早确凿证据是 Ohthere 的账户 c。890，但根据这篇论文的发现，它的历史可能会被推迟到更远的时间。对 8 世纪至 9 世纪早期在日德兰西南部里伯（今丹麦西部）取回的磨石进行的地质分析表明，大多数是在现在的特伦德拉格（Trøndelag）的贵族庄园拉德（Lade）附近开采的- 挪威中部，向北约 1100 公里的海路。由于数量多且经久耐用，在里伯和其他城市遗址中回收的磨石可被视为北极远距离海上贸易的代表。这种贸易在维京时代的门槛上达到顶峰，促使人们重新考虑斯堪的纳维亚长途贸易商、国王和维京人同时存在和相互冲突的利益。有人认为，由这些利益引起的联盟和冲突，以及这三种类型的代理人出现的新限制和机会，为理解维京人直到 9 世纪中叶袭击海外的原因和地点提供了关键。