Gripla - 20.12.2009, Síða 22

GRIPLA22
runic alphabet was a reinvention of the Roman model), but much less
affected than the neighbouring barbarians. At a later stage, after the tripar­
tite division of the Roman realm, the relationship between central and
peripheral regions was redefined: the barbarians most directly drawn into
the Roman orbit became key players in the reconstruction of a post­
Roman West, and the overall geopolitical reconfiguration shifted the
power centre of the region towards the northwest. But it is of some impor­
tance for toynbee’s account that – as far as Scandinavia is concerned – this
second phase is not a direct continuation of the first. As he sees it, there
was a period of segregation before the “re-establishment of contact between
the Scandinavians and Western Christendom” (toynbee 1951, 343). He
explains the temporary separation as a consequence of Slavic migration
into the vacuum left by teutonic barbarians gone south. this reflects an
exaggerated view of the Slavic impact on Central Europe, and it is also
hard to reconcile with Toynbee’s own statements about Saxony as a buffer
zone between Franks and Scandinavians, destroyed by Charlemagne’s con­
quest. Nor is it clear what happened to Scandinavia during the interval, but
Toynbee seems to agree with Axel Olrik’s assessment of the isolated
“northman” (sic): “In certain respects he became a barbarian again” (Ibid.,
343). there is both a parallel and a contrast to the Irish trajectory; Ireland
was also segregated, because of the Roman withdrawal from Britain and
the collapse of Romanized culture throughout the island; but in this case,
the presence of Christianity provided a civilizing impulse that was lacking
in Scandinavia.
It seems clear that developments in parts of the erstwhile northern
periphery (the continental, the insular and the peninsular) diverged during
the period in question, but toynbee’s account does not do much to clarify
the picture. However, the oversimplified notion of a period of segregation
is essential to his narrative: a new beginning was needed, and the character
of that beginning left its mark on the course of later events. the next
round of the interaction between southern civilization and North European
barbarism was initiated by the Carolingian Empire. Toynbee judges this
new actor on the scene very harshly: it was an “abortive evocation of a
ghost” and “a fiasco because it was both grandiose and premature” (Toynbee
1951, 344). the result of its self­destructive hubris was to trigger a counter-
offensive from the north. toynbee seems to assume that the spectacle of a