The Baltic Finns were Vikings too, but the world ignores it

The Baltic Finns were Vikings too, but the world ignores it
By Marian Männi / July 12, 2020

The Estonian archaeologist, Marika Mägi, argues that the Baltic Finns – the people who lived in the territories of modern Finland and Estonia – were Vikings, too, but the world ignores this fact.
This article is published in collaboration with Research in Estonia.

A scientist’s long crusade for making the world see the hidden part of the Viking history.

The Estonia and Denmark-based Tallinn University archaeologist, Marika Mägi, has spoken about the Viking Age sailors for many years, but still compares it with banging her “head against the wall”.

It is because she does not speak about the Norsemen, the Scandinavian Vikings, but the ones who lived a bit to the east, along the eastern Baltic Sea shores. And this is often uncomfortable to hear for other scientists and Viking experts, because it forces them to rethink their knowledge. If the world would accept the crucial role of the Baltic region in Viking communication, many stories would have to be retold and many knowledge gaps refilled. And that’s hard work.

When Mägi points out that they missed a piece in the puzzle, her listeners politely nod and go on ignoring the region. Why make the effort?

The Baltic region, as usual, is seen like an empty void between Scandinavia and Russia.

But this is simply not the truth.



More:
https://estonianworld.com/knowledge/the-baltic-finns-were-vikings-too-but-the-world-ignores-it/