Studia Islandica - 01.06.1960, Blaðsíða 36

34
A reference to the struggle betvveen King Jaroslav I
and the Lyakhs appears in Chapter 2 of the Saga of
Iiaráld Harðráði in the Heimskringla, which relates
that Harald became the head of the king’s militia about
1032, and there is a verse by Þjóðólf as follows:
Austrviðnum ók
í öngvan krók;
vasa Lœsum léttr
liðsmanna réttr.
(“(He) brought the East Wendlanders to bay; the head
of the soldiery was not easy (to deal with) for the
Lyakhs.”)
Lœsir is an Old Norse version of the word Lyakhs,
possibly of its Slav form. Norsemen of the llth century
have therefore known this area, i.e. the country between
the Bug and the Njemen.
On the coast near Elbing on the Frisches Haff, the re-
mains of a Norse settlement from Gotland have been
found, dating from the 7th century until about 900, and
further north near Wiskiauten the remains of a Norse
settlement have also been found, dating from about
850—950, these two places being on either side of Erm-
land.10
The Icelanders have also had opportunities of acquir-
ing some knowledge of this area, as is shown by the
Kristni Saga, Chapter 12, which gives an account of the
death of Thorvald Koðránsson the Far-travelled, stating
that he was buried near Polotsk on the river Dvina. A
verse by Bjarni the Far-travelled shows that he him-
self had been there. It is a pity that nothing else is
known about that man.
Apart from 13th—14th century knowledge of geo-
graphy, it is evident that some llth century Icelanders
visited the area under discussion, and it is also clear
that Scandinavians in general had substantial knowledge