The Estonian archaeologist, Marika Mägi, argues that the Baltic Finns – the people who lived in the territories of modern Finland and Estonia – were Vikings, too, but the world ignores this fact.
https://estonianworld.com/knowledge/the-baltic-finns-were-vi…
It is because she does not speak about the Norsemen, the Scandinavian Vikings, but the ones who lived a bit to the east, along the eastern Baltic Sea shores. And this is often uncomfortable to hear for other scientists and Viking experts, because it forces them to rethink their knowledge. If the world would accept the crucial role of the Baltic region in Viking communication, many stories would have to be retold and many knowledge gaps refilled. And that’s hard work.
The Baltic region, as usual, is seen like an empty void between Scandinavia and Russia.
Vikings could not have reached the modern Russian territory without passing through the Baltic shores. Russia simply did not have any accessible coastline between the 9th and 11th centuries, the golden Viking era.
Then why are Russians taking such a central role in Viking stories? What if some of these events took place in the modern Baltic territory instead?
Mägi thinks this is the case for some of the Russia-based sagas – traditionally carried on tales the popular Netflix series, “Vikings”, brought to life. Events in sagas that depict the Viking eastern activity in the eighth-ninth centuries largely take place on the Eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, Mägi concludes from her sources.
You do need the sea to be able to sail, after all. And the Baltics lived by the sea, not Russians. Estonia’s coastline is 3,794 kilometres (2,400 miles) long and its maritime tradition has been strong throughout centuries. The same goes for other areas once inhabited by the Baltic Finns.
Jaak
Note: In the article there is a 9th century map of Europe at the beginning of the Viking age which shows where the Baltic Finns lived next to Slavs, Balts and Baltic Sea.