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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Kidnapping the Frisian

subject

description

The several sources documenting the events of the Viking Age in Frisia Magna emphasise the dramatic aspects of the Northern invasions. However, seen from a wider perspective, the Frisian-Scandinavian relations appear to be multifaceted and at times ambiguous. A number of Old Frisian law texts refer to the Viking practice of capturing and enslaving Frisian men, forcing them to fight on their side, and even sharing spoils with them. A Frisian who undergoes such an experience is called skalk, ‘servant, slave’, a sort of high-ranking servant. He enjoys special rights and even privileges. Such ambiguous status seems the result of the peculiar and not always straightforward interactions between Frisians and Scandinavians.