Constantinople: Bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperor
Viking prowess and strength were a marvel throughout the east. The Arab traveler Ahmad Ibn Fadlan marveled at the Viking physique and prowess, commenting how he had “never seen bodies as nearly perfect as theirs. As tall as palm trees, fair and reddish, they wear neither tunics nor kaftans. Every man wears a cloak with which he covers half of his body, so that one arm is uncovered. They carry axes, swords, daggers and always have them to hand.”
Byzantine chroniclers recognized their worth too, noting that they were: “frightening both in appearance and in equipment, they attacked with reckless rage and neither cared about losing blood nor their wounds”. This reputation for strength and ferocity probably explains how Viking warriors found themselves in Constantinople fighting for the Byzantine Empire rather than against it.
In 874 AD, 6,000 Viking men were sent to the court of King Basil II in Byzantium as part of a peace treaty between the Emperor and the Kiev Vikings who converted to Christianity. They found the basis of the Varangian Guard, the elite bodyguards of the Eastern Roman emperor. The Varangian guards soon became a profitable tour of duty for Vikings. In fact, they left in such numbers and so many stayed that laws were passed in Sweden to prevent them from inheriting in the country of their birth will serving in Constantinople.
These elite Viking guards left evidence of themselves behind in the former Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In the late 20th century, runic inscriptions were found randomly carved into the western gallery of the former church. “Halfdan made these runes” read one, while the other simply read “Arni”.