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DAN MARK

The first significant appearance of Danish tribes took place already in 113 BC, when the Cimbri and Teutones migrated south and inflicted several defeats on both the romans and their allies, in among others the Battle of Arausio, where the romans lost around 100,000 men. The Danish tribes also played a significant role in the over 600 years long battle of Britain. At the time of the fall of Rome, the fierce jutes, angli and saxons, all originating from modern Denmark or nearby areas, were the most successful settlers and conquerors on the island, and established the great kingdom of Englisc.

Ironically, this kingdom is the main target of the Danish viking raids and conquests around 843 AD. Having resisted the invasion attempts of Charlemagne, the Danes have at this time a great confidence in military matters and, now that the Frankish empire has been divided and in internal fighting, their southern front is clear and they can turn their attention elsewhere.

The Danish armies, like most viking armies, consist mainly of infantry, including heavily armored huskarles, infamous for their ferocity in combat. Their position far to the south eventually also allowed their armies to be influenced by the Frankish type of warfare, and at the end of this period led to the Danes implementing a better cavalry force than any of the other viking factions - however, these "knights" are by no means comparable to those of France or the Holy roman empire.

Historically, the Danes among other things established a great kingdom in Britain known as "Danelagen" (the Danelaw), which at it's peak covered much of Britain and even threatened to destroy the kingdom of Englisc. Danelagen was sometimes independent from Denmark, but at one time the king of Denmark came to rule over both Denmark and the Danelaw at the same time. The Norwegians begun their raids and conquests at about the same time, and due to the positions of the two nations, there was also an internal competition between Danes and Norwegians. Whereas the Norwegians had superior sailors, the Danes could muster a large land army and were most successful in Britain. Nevertheless, at the later phase of the period the Norwegians became more dominant - it was Norwegians that founded Normandy, and it was a Norwegian - Harald Hårdråde, that came to compete for the total control over Britain with William the Conqueror and king Harold of the Englisc in 1066 AD.

NORDMANNALAND

The first significant appearance of Norwegians comes from the roman era. It's also possible that the phoenicians that travelled to Britain also reached Norway long before the roman period. However, we know for sure that the Norwegians carried out trade with the romans, supplying them with among other things salt fish. The sea became the niche of the Norwegians early. Only by learning how to make excellent ships could the Norwegians keep up contacts with the south, and thanks to their impressive ships in combination with this new technology, the Norwegians were by 843 AD strong enough to become successful raiders and conquerors. However, they shared their area of interest with the Danes, and at the beginning of the period, Norway was divided between several petty kingdoms with internal rivalry.

They had to take advantage of their superior sailing skills and most early Norwegian raids were directed at areas the Danes couldn't, or didn't want to, reach. Ireland and the northern parts of Britain, as well as later Iceland and Newfoundland, were subject to Norwegian raids while the Danes targeted the Englisc in southern Britain. However, in 872 AD, Harald Hárfagri (Harald Fairhair) united many of the Norwegian petty kingdoms, thus starting a Norwegian age of gold. In 911 AD, a Norwegian siege of Paris forced the French king to give Normandy and a large tribute to Gångerolf (Hrolf the Ganger), and Norwegian vikings also established a strong colony at Dubh Linn (Dublin) and weren't thrown out of Ireland until they were defeated in the battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD - where they initially performed well despite being outnumbered. After a period of several influential kings including Sweyn Tveskegg (Sweyn Forkbeard) and Knud den Store (Canute the Great), a last Norwegian conquest attempt was made by Harald Hårdråde in 1066 AD. In the battle of Stamford bridge, he was defeated by king Harold of the Englisc in his attempt to conquer Britain, but although failing to win the battle, Harald inflicted so many casualties on Harold that William the Conqueror was able to win at Hastings shortly afterwards. In the end, Britain came partly under Norwegian control anyway - the Normans were as much Norwegians as they were franks.

During the viking age, the Norwegian army consisted predominantly of infantry armed with axes and spears. The little cavalry that was used was mostly for scouting, and horses were more commonly used as transportation TO battles than for actual usage IN battle. Nevertheless, the powerful infantry of the Norwegian viking age army granted them a superiority over many of their opponents - until in the later parts of the period when most armies developed a better cavalry.

SVEA RIKET

The first significant appearance of Sweden in world history was perhaps the semi-legendary colonization of the east Baltic area, predominantly taking place at Novgorod, which led to the establishment of the first Russian dynasty. Known as the Rus, or "Gaardariki", those settlers would later around Kiev form a strong empire which grew strong enough to challenge both the Byzantine empire and the Khazars, as well as several other smaller kingdoms in the area.

Sweden itself remained isolated and divided for a much longer period. Apparently, the forests of Småland and Värmland were more effective than the sea at isolating the Swedish from the empires and kingdoms further south. Sweden remained divided between three major tribes - the Sviar, the Västgotar, and the Ostgotar for a long time. During the viking age, the Sviar formed the most significant tribe, and took part in both raiding, colonization and trade, predominantly in the Baltic area as the Baltic area was the only sea they had easy access to while the gotar tribes blocked southern Sweden. The gotar initially only held a very short part of coastline to the west, and their internal fighting was perhaps worse than to the north, and prevented the Swedish from establishing any bases as starting positions for viking raids to the west.

Many of the Sviar, as well as many Norwegians, came to serve as mercenaries in the varangian guard in Constantinople. Sviar warriors also put Constantinople under siege at one time, granting them a huge tribute in exchange for liftin their siege of the city.

By the end of the viking age, the power balance in Sweden changed. The increasing strength of the gotar tribes eventually led to the gotar gaining the upper hand in the inernal fighting in Sweden, and after the viking age came to unite the three major tribes under Folkkungaätten. The increased importance of the gotar tribes depended on many things. First of all, they strengthened the control over their western coastline, granting them better contact with the south. Secondly, they had been forced to resist many Danish invasion attempts, and recieved experience in newer forms of warfare - including cavalry warfare. Thirdly, the Sviar were exhausted by their foreign wars.

During the viking age, the Swedish army consisted predominantly of infantry armed with axes and spears. The little cavalry that was used was mostly for scouting, and horses were more commonly used as transportation TO battles than for actual usage IN battle. Nevertheless, the powerful infantry of the Swedish viking age army granted them a superiority over many of their opponents - until in the later parts of the period when most armies developed a better cavalry.

Rus: According to the legend, the Rus dynasty at Novgorod, known as "Gaardariki", was founded by the Swedish viking Rurik in around 860 AD. Although Rurik was viking, most of the early Russian population was already slavic and finno-ugric. The dynasty steadily grew in power and extended their control to Kiev to the south, which started an age of gold which came to last until in 1230 AD, when the mongols overwhelmed Europe.

During this period, trade routes were established in the Black sea and the Kievan Rus probably carried out trade with both the Byzantine empire, the Khazars, and the Abbassid khaliphate. The Kievan Rus expansions eventually led to the fall of Khazar and the defeat of several other tribes settled east and west of Kiev. The Rus converted to Orthodox faith after their contacts with Constantinople during the missionary race between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

The Rus army eventually became a formidable combination of fierce viking infantry supported by traditional steppe cavalry - both lighter horse archers, and heavier cavalry sometimes armed with lance, sometimes with bow. The druzhina, the Rus leader's personal guard, was among the finest cavalry of it's time, and the boyars, the Rus aristocrats, formed a heavy cavalry force comparable to the western feudal knights - but often with greater mobility and an extra strength lying in their bows.