Around 1100 years ago, in the 9th century, probably during a Sunday mass, a bored Viking named Halvdan (Halfdan) carved his name on a marble slab at the upper gallery of Hagia Sophia.
–“Halvdan was here”–
The text was Old Norse, and it was carved in runic letters. It is quite surprising that this carved text survived through the centuries. For many years, it hadn’t come to anyone’s attention and, up until 1964, people assumed these to be just random cracks caused by the elements. Research done in 1964 proved that this was done by a Norseman.
Asuumptions About Halvdan’s Identity
Who was Halvdan?
There are two assumptions about Halvdan’s identity.
1-He was a brave warlord and commander from a Viking tribe who lived on the Lotofen Archipelago (modern day Norway). Halvdan supposedly traveled to Constantinapolis (İstanbul) for trade and business purposes. The huge city of Constantinapolis ( or Miklağård, as the Vikings named it) marvelled Halvdan. Like most Vikings who visited Constantinapolis, he decided to join the mercenary unit, Varangians, which solely consisted of Viking warriors who served the Byzantine Empreror. Halvdan fell in love with the beauty of Hagia Sophia and decided to visit it. Hagia Sophia opened only during mass, so Halvdan attended mass to see the church. Since he was not Christian, he got bored during mass and carved his name onto a marble slab in the upper balcony of Hagia Sophia.
2-It is also a supposed theory that either a Scandinavian pilgrim or merchant visited Hagia Sophia in the 9th century and carved his name onto the marble slab. However, this theory is not considered to be very plausible.
More Runic Carved Texts Were Found In Hagia Sophia in 2016
In 2016, Russian researcher Elena A. Melʹnikova (Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) discovered more texts carved into different parts of Hagia Sophia. The actual purpose of her visit was to discover Cyrillic inscriptions, however she stumbled upon something completely different.
E. A. Melʹnikova discovered 27 cm long line of runes in Old Norse on a marble windowsill in the northerneast wall of the first floor: “a͡rịṇba͡rþrr͡aṣṭruna͡rþasi (Old Norse: Arinbárðr rеist rúnar), which translates to “Arinbárðr cut these runes”. The runes date back to either the second half of the eleventh or first half of the twelfth century. E. A. Melʹnikova presumed that these runes were most likely carved by a Scandinavian merchant who passed through the city.
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Uh…general yeah right, trader maybe, the honest truth probably was a bored huskarl who were the elite guards for royalty of the area at that time. This dead horse has been beaten so many times it’s a Wendy’s patty now.
Hey Chris 🙂 Yeah probably a bored Viking and who decided to carve some stuff. I guess the tradition of carving one’s name onto historical stuff never changes 🙂
1100 years later and little Chris is jealous of Halvdan.
He did not vandalise that. The leader at the time was surprised how runic text looks like Arabic text. He was impressed by the Old Norse general. Because Viking was just a name of one sea pirate ship, sunken by the Norse people as it was rouge. Point is that’s why the text is there. The text translates to the captain visiting a good trade mark.
Hey Olafr! :)This article does not aim any negative opinion. This is actally supposed to be a semi-humorous one. We all appreciate our common heritage. If that person didn’t mark his name, we would be one marvel short in Hagia Sophia 🙂
Hey! The Varangians weren’t solely “vikings”. Certain points of the the guard definitely saw a more norse / dane / rus cast of folks. There were many saxons which sought the guard. Vikings were known by their actions- by going viking. Once again, surely a danish / norse cast; not without a mixed crew. To go viking wasn’t necessarily racial but more cultural and out of necessity. Obviously this was mostly of the Scandinavian area, but the importance is not in their exclusion. If a sword could a carried, a shield hefted, and goods plundered- then there was more than likely a spot on the oar bench. Getting there is a matter of context!
Hey Chad! The sources I saw stated different information about the Varangians. But I am sure the info you provided needs to be put on this post. I will check it more elaborately and change that section if I confirm that. Do I have your permission to give you credit in the post iff the info changes? 🙂
I agree 100 percent Saxon warriors also were in the Varangians according to history
Thank you David 🙂
Hey, so I’ve always wonder about informational blogs such as these, but where do you out your sources?
I remember being taught to put in-text citations and a list of sources.
I’m curious because i want to learn further about these subjects and how to better write about them, so I figured who better to ask than someone who does this professionally?
Hello Juan 🙂 What I mostly do is to find out about thesis papers or academic stuff about the topic I am planinng to write about. Of course the platforms like Wikipedia is very helpful, however, since it is an open source site anyone can add any information and sometimes what you find might not be reliable. I am personally interested in history and travel, so I concentrate on the content related to my interests and prepare articles about them. When it comes to the visuals, most of the images on Wikipedia are free to use, however you should check the copyright issues which is stated underneath every visual on Wikipedia. Aside from the stuff on Wikipedia, I always give proper credit to visuals I use that find on different websites. Hope it was helpful! 🙂
You historians are so much smarter than us thrills of Thor…. and… much more clairvoyant! Incredible the sagas that have been discerned from scratches in stone!
Yeah 🙂
if a mosqe is to be converted to be a church . imagine what happens now ?
Hopefully the history inside Hagia Sophia remains unharmed.
Halfdan Olafsson, 725-740, (king of Uppsala). Eystein Halfdansson, 740-772, king of Vestfold. Halfdan (2nd) Eysteinsson, 767-800, king of Vestfold. Ivar Halfdansson, 789-810, Jarl of Uplands.