Comment by rusanu | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rusanu | Hacker News Reader

Swedish Vikings extended mostly toward what is now Russia and Ukraine, using Volga, Don and Dniepr as major communication/transport channels [0]. This brought them into contact with the Khazar Khanagate at the mouth of Volga [1] and the Volga Bulgars [2] (both muslim at the time). When Vladimir (half viking) had to choose a religion for his Kievan Rus, Islam was one of the choices [3] (rejected because it would forbid the joy of drinking, see link).

So there was ample cultural contact with Islam, a religion actively proselytizing. It lasted about 150-200 years. That some influence made it back to Sweden should not be surprising.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_trade_route [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_Bulgaria [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great

This is an opportunity for me to link to one of my all-time favorite Vikings, alive contemporary as the dating of the finds. Harald Hardrada, whose journeys show just how mobile the Vikings might have been at that time period; if he had not contested the English throne at the same time as William contested it, history would surely have taken a greatly different course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Hardrada

I remember reading that Vikings used ships rented in Khazar Khanagate to attack targets in Mediterranean as a form of disguise. They payed the rent with things they captured during the raids.

Thanks, I just googled this. Apparently it's Khaganate rather than Khanagate.

With old names it might be both, I guess, depending on who you ask.

I wonder, has khan any to do with Kahn (ger. ship).

It doesn't. "kh" should be read as a single sound (Arabic or Persian خ) not a sequence of two sounds.

both khan and kahn come out as british can't modulo t does, I guess, though noone knows what it sounded like originally.

No they don't, kh is an aspirated k sound. In any case that is not what was mistyped in the original post, it was the second and third syllables that hade changed places.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com