Greetings from Norway

[ombugge]

Forgot about Miklagard (today’s Istanbul)

Miklagard (The Great City)

Not sure when the first Noreman sat foot in Miklagard, but the Vikings laid siege to the city twice: first in the year 860 and again in 907.

But by and large, the contact between the two was mutually beneficial.
The Viking’s reputation as capable warriors eventually earned them a place of honour as the Byzantine emperor’s guard. The Varangians, as they were called by the Byzantine, were in fact an unusual gift to the Byzantine emperor Basil II by Czar Vladimir (Valdemar) of Russia, in 980.

The 6,000 Scandinavian-Russian Vikings were incorporated into the emperor’s army as a single unit, and were the best-paid troops in the empire.
So well-paid actually, that in order to join this select group of soldiers, one had to bribe the right people. The Varangian guard served Byzantium for 300 years.

Source:

Miklagard: When the Vikings Reached Constantinople

PS: This last bit should probably have been in the Viking Navigation thread