En Kortig Histori é Fungayados Wolkåd nu Obar Norrseg

 

(Some of the History of the Swedish Culture was taken from Microsoft Encarta 2004)

 

INTRODUCTION TO THE FUNGAYADO

 

Although the precise location is unknown, the Fungayado people were thought to have originated around the time or Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (170 AD) in the area of Scandinavia that is now Västernorrland in Sweden, off the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic sea.  This region is known Ångermanland in Swedish.  It would help immensely to have a comprehension of the Fungarr language, but a glossary will be provided in the end of all of the terms used throughout the course of this treatise.

 

BOOK I – THE HISTORY

 

CHAPTER I: THE DYNASTY

 

During Roman times the eastern half of the Scandinavian Peninsula was inhabited by two tribes of the Germanic peoples: the Suiones, or Swedes, in northern Svealand; and the Gothones, or Goths, in southern Gothia.  These tribes, although united in religious beliefs, were generally at war with each other.  However, as peace between the two tribes became more and more feasible, the tribes started interbreeding, and their offspring grew to hate the ways of both peoples.  So they moved into the region to become Sanoséhelgedom in order to isolate themselves from the other tribes.  However, before the 10th century, details of Swedish history are obscure. In the first half of the 9th century Frankish missionaries began teaching Christianity, which slowly became established in the country. Olaf Skötkonung was the first Swedish king to become a Christian, and he was also the one to establish a mutual trade-partnership with the Fungayado, and thus brought Christianity to the Fungayado.  From about ad 800, Swedish Vikings established colonies in other countries, especially Russia and Eastern Europe, and established trade routes.  These routes were laden mainly with Swedes, but also Fungayado who had grown tired of their ägor and wanted to venture more into Kavols, or Europe.  And so the Fungayadam culture spread: it spread so far and so thin that it almost disappeared.  That is the main reason it is today named the Fungayado or travelling culture.

 

In ≈ 300 AD, the newly-formed Fungadam (or “moving”) tribe had settled in Ångermanland and began consructing cities.  The biggest and greatest of these cities was Strömsberg, which would become the seat of kings, the great Capital City of the Fungayado race, and the centre of culture.  The City is now known as Sundsvall in Sweden.  Other Fungadam cities that still exist in Sweden are Björnlandet, Kramfors, and Sollefteå (and Västerås in southern Sweden).  These cities became a sort of kingdom, with nothing but fields in between them.

 

Yet the people were not united under the same banner.  The tribe had divided into the coastal muidosmeho and the inland orenameho.  In around 550 the leader of the people’s military began to spread the word of a magnificent sight to be beheld in Strömsberg, and the people began to migrate by the thousand to the tip of the great Srogna where Strömsberg was located.  Once there and disappointed, they began to settle, not wanting to make the long journey back to their homes.  This was the first beginning of the Civil Movement (Noisydam Waal).

 

Inevitably, the kings turned their attention to the sea, the easiest way of communication with the outside world. About ad 800, ships of war were built and sent on raiding expeditions, initiating the era of the Vikings. The northern sea rovers were traders, colonizers, and explorers as well as plunderers. Around ad 875 Fungayado joined the Swedes and Norwegians as they established settlements in Ireland, Britain, and Iceland and in the Orkney, Faroe, and Shetland islands. A century later, in about ad 985, Eric the Red led Vikings to Greenland from Iceland; a few years later, his son, Leif Eriksson, was one of the first Europeans to explore North America. Bands of the northern Vikings penetrated Russia, where their influence on the Russian state is still the subject of scholarly debate and research. Others settled in France, where they became the ancestors of the Normans of Normandy (Normandie).

 

In the 9th century the first successful attempt to form a united Norwegian kingdom was made by King Harald I, called Fairhair, of Vestfold (southeast Norway). Succeeding to the throne of Vestfold as a child, Harald managed to establish his supremacy over all Norway shortly before 900.  The Norwegians, friendly and only a day’s ride away from Strömsberg, asked for the aid of the Fungayado in making this Union, and the leader of the muidosmeho, Mägnar Tronssög, agreed to lend them supplies and a few soldiers, but at the death of King Harald in about 940 his sons divided Norway, with Eric Bloodaxe as overking. Dissensions and wars among the heirs disrupted the temporary unity, and many of the petty rulers refused to surrender their independence. In addition to the domestic struggles, Danish and Swedish kings were attempting to acquire Norwegian territory.  Arstänägor was more literally a part of Sweden than Norway, so Tronssög’s daughter Mägnareu Inga (942-990) traveled to Uppsala to pay homage to King Erik and made the wise choice of siding with the Swedes.  Because of her, the Arstänägor was expanded almost to the size it is today.

 

After the organization of the tribe into a full-on civilization, the military leader and hero Bernol Riksoreg (963-1041) was decided to become the leader of the Fungadam nation.  He erected a vast palace inside Strömsberg, and expanded the city to thrice its original size, now massing over 100 square miles.  Mägnar Riksoreg was single-handedly responsible for doubling the military power and influence in Northern Scandinavia, as well as promulgating peace with the Swedes in 1005.  The Fungayado were now a people united.

 

Riksoreg’s dynasty would last for the next 190 years in Arstänägor, and during these times would see invasion of Poland by the Czechs (Bohemians), the Great Earthquake of Tabrīz, and the death of Danish King Hardecanute.  This was a period of prosperity for the Fungayado; despite their rural, agricultural society, they were a very rich people.

 

CHAPTER 2: THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE

 

            After the last of Mägnar Riksoreg’s heirs died leaving no heirs of his own, the ruling King Sverker of Sweden sought to bring that land into the dominion of the Swedes, but there arose a military leader named Jan Valdemar, who rallied all the strong and true Fungayado to a peoples’ army to fight back against the dominant invading Swedes.  The people were not killed when the Swedish army eliminated the Fungayado, but were taken back to Uppsala to be civilized, where they became a part of Sweden and placed under Swedish rule.  However, the Fungadam culture still exists to this day in Västernorrland, and the language, Fungarr, is still spoken in some remote areas.

 

BOOK II – THE SOCIETY AND CULTURE

The early Middle Ages was a very eventful time for the Swedish people. The country took new shape and new conditions developed.  From the 12th to the15th century towns and societies emerged. Laws were written, castles were built, mines grew, trade increased and the first society-classes were established.

 

CHAPTER 1:  SOCIETY AND ECONOMY

 

Every province had its own laws and ways of ruling. Most of the people were farmers with very ancient traditions, such as letting their farms be inherited within the family for hundreds of years. They mostly survived on their own crops and meat from domestic animals.   At this time, Sweden had a king but he had to be elected both by the Svea Thing and the provinces. At the beginning of the 13th century, Sweden grew into a class society. When a meeting took place in Alsnö 1280, the king decided that people who served as knights did not have to pay taxes and were given their own provinces. This decision led to Sweden not only becoming a class society, but also a feudal society.   The thralls were people who were owned by other men. They could be bought or sold just like they were goods. Their owner could do whatever they wanted with them. The Burghers formed their own class after the Hanseatic trade developed and grew in northern Germany.   The king and the Church received their income from the taxes which the farmers paid. Thanks to this, the king could pay his officials without giving them provinces and therefore did not need all his knights. This was one of the reasons of feudal society's disappearance.  And having been integrated into this society, the Fungayado were subjects to the King, and their land and ancestral Aerosho were forfeit.

 

When the first Swedish towns were built, Christianity had not yet entered the country. There were no rules and no laws for how the towns should be administrated and how they should function. But as time went on, customs took shape and town laws appeared.

 

During the Viking period there were three main trading towns in Sweden: Birka, Hedeby and Kaupang, Birka having a high concentration of Fungayado. Here traders from the south and the east met with Nordic traders and exchanged merchandise. Of course there were also smaller trading places where people met to exchange goods and practise their religion. The trading did not last during the whole year. It only took place a few times a year. During the periods when trading went on, the towns sparkled with life. People stayed there over night, ate, drank and stored their merchandise. But when the trading periods were over the towns stood empty and quiet. The tradeplaces then were laid wasted.   In the provinces Skåne and Halland there were a number of small trading places. All these places carried names that ended with "-köping". This is because the word "köping" means "market town". Most of the market towns in Skåne and Halland were placed a couple of miles inland from the coastline near streams, so that merchants could reach the trading places by small boats. There are different theories about why the trading places were placed a bit from, but not directly on the coast. Most likely it was to avoid pirate attacks. Trading places by the coast were most likely to be attacked from the sea.   The small trading places never developed into big cities but most of them lived on as church villages. Cities like Löddeköping and Köpinge in Skåne are examples of these kind of cities.   "Årrik the Great"  (a hero of the First Fungadam-Swedish War) managed to overcome the threat from the sea on coastal settlements. Because of the fact that these threats decreased, church villages could develop into towns. But just in case of attacks, they still had to protect their city with the help of fences, walls and ditches.  After the Viking age, Christianity entered Sweden (in the 12th century). Old trading towns such as Birka became abandoned but new communities developed.  During the 13th century Burghers started coming to Sweden. The Hanseatic towns in Northern Germany had taken over trade and their apperance in Sweden led to the growth of many towns. Most of them grew up on the shores of Lake Mälaren and on the Baltic coast.   Where Lake Mälaren flows into salt waters, people built a castle as protection from pirates. Birger Jarl decided that a town should surround the castle. This town that was built was named Stockholm. It later became the capital of Sweden and is so even today.   Another town that flowered during this period was Visby on Gotland. North German merchants made this town one of the richest and largest in the Baltic region during this period.  The largest city in Northern Sweden, ironically, was Strömsberg, renamed as Sundsvall, which is now a seaport and an industrial center. Major manufactures include cellulose, aluminum, and metal products.  The city became a sort of Capital of the North (Norderhuvudstad), and thus the Fungadam culture still thrives in modern Sweden.

 

From the beginning laws existed only in oral form. Different provinces had different laws and in every province there lived a man called the "lawman" (sw. Lagligsman, Fu. Sirgon). He knew all laws by heart and spoke about them in the "Thing".

 

The laws had one purpose and it was to keep peace and justice in the province. In the laws of Västmanland for example, it says; "The land shall be built with the law and not with deeds of violence" (Fu.  Ly ägor e laggufur hol Sir wa he i Gärning Häftigåd).  The eldest laws written down are "the Province Laws" (Skapposirro). They were written down during the 13th and into the beginning of the 14th century. These laws were evidence to the growing importance of the state and official power. The laws were systematically divided into different sections. Laws regulated relationships between the church and the common people and between the king and the common people. There were also laws for the peasants and concerning their co-operation within society and within the country. Laws also existed concerning the punishments for breaking different laws.   In the middle of the 13th century, at the time when Birger Jarl ruled, the respect for women in society increased. Before this women had no rights at all and could be treated just as animals, if so desired. But during this time things changed and there were laws written down concerning the treatment of women. It was no longer permitted to rape or beat women.   A crime against a woman was now the worst crime that could be committed, and crimes were not allowed to be committed in someone's house, in the church or in the "Thing".   Women at this time got the right to inherit, for example, her parent's estate. Before women could only inherit someone's estate if there were no male heirs. But now they had the right to inherit half as much as their male siblings.

 

In the beginning of the 13th century, the empire's real leader was Birger Jarl, a leading member of the "Folkunga" dynasty. He wanted to build a strong central government for the whole country and reorganise the tax system. He continued ruling the empire until his death.  The word jarl means lord and at that time the king's highest officials were called jarl. Birger Jarl belonged to a family from Östergötland, who were called the "folkunga" dynasty.  He also had a great respect for the little known Fungayado and their accomplishments.  During the 1250's Birger Jarl increased trade with the merchants from Lubeck. They were free from paying taxes in the Swedish harbours. Thanks to this, a new trade town, Stockholm, was created and the citizens were divided into four social classes: the nobles, the priests, the commoners and the peasants.  Birger Jarl had many sons and he divided his provinces between the eldest. His son, Valdemar (named after the man who led the revolt against the Swedish takeover), was chosen to be king but the other brothers became jealous and feuded with each other.  Later his brother, Magnus, let himself be crowned and was named Magnus Ladulås.  In 1279, at his favourite castle Alsnö on Adelsö in Mälaren, Magnus Ladulås issued a law for the nobility. This law stated that who paid their own costs for the armament of the horses and the horsemen and did service in war for the king would be free from paying taxes and also get other advantages. However, to raise money for this, the peasants had to pay taxes. Since the church accepted and crowned Magnus, they were rewarded with the freedom from paying taxes.  Before the peasants had to pay taxes to the king, they had to take part in "ledungen". It was an assemblage of ships, crew and supplies owned by the king. The peasants' work was to provide the ship with crew and necessities. "Ledungen" had its origin from the Viking ages. Instead of doing this job they were forced to pay a tax to the king.  To be able to rule this great empire and organise taxes, the king had to build castles all over the empire e.g. the castles of Nyköping, Kalmar, Örebro, Västerås (built as a shelter by Fungayado), Stegeborg, Jönköping and Lödelöse. These were the places where the king resided. The royal officials were quartered here and the peasants paid taxes to them. You can say that this was the place from where the king ruled the empire. The castles were a sign that Sweden now had become a kingdom.  King Albrekt was the first king of Sweden to be descended from Fungayado.