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The Kylfings (Old Norse ''Kylfingar''; Finnic ''Kylfingid''; Hungarian ''Kölpények''; Old East Slavic Колбяги, ''Kolbiagi''; Byzantine Greek Κουλπίγγοι, ''Koulpingoi''; Arabic ''al-Kilabiyya'') were a people of uncertain origin active in Northern Europe during the Viking Age, roughly from the late ninth century to the early twelfth century. They could be found in areas of Lapland, Russia, and the Byzantine Empire that were frequented by Scandinavian traders, raiders and mercenaries. Scholars differ on whether the Kylfings were ethnically Finnic or Norse.〔''See, e.g.,'' Ravndal 75; Arbman 90; Postan 481.〕 Also disputed is their geographic origin, with Denmark, Sweden and the Eastern Baltic all put forward as candidates.〔''See, e.g.,'' Bugge 309; Guðmundsson ''passim''.〕 Whether the name Kylfing denotes a particular tribal, socio-political, or economic grouping is also a matter of much debate.〔''E.g.'', Guðmundsson ''passim''; Hastings 640.〕 They are mentioned in Old Norse runestone inscriptions, sagas (most notably in ''Egil's Saga''), and poetry (such as Thorbjorn Hornklofi's poem ''Haraldskvæði''), as well as Byzantine records and Rus' law-codes. According to the sagas, the Kylfings opposed the consolidation of Norway under Harald Fairhair and participated in the pivotal late ninth century Battle of Hafrsfjord. After Harald's victory in that battle, they are described in the sagas as having raided in Finnmark and elsewhere in northern Norway and having fought against Harald's lieutenants such as Thorolf Kveldulfsson. ==Etymology== The exact etymology of the word ''kylfing'' is disputed and many different theories have been put forward as to its ultimate origin. The general trend has been to trace ''kylfing'' to the Old Norse words ''kylfa'' and ''kolfr'', but scholars disagree as to the meaning of these words as well. Cleasby notes that in Old Norse, ''kylfa'' can mean a club or cudgel.〔Cleasby 366. Another, still less likely Norse definition offered by Cleasby is "stammer" (''kylfa''). ''Ibid.''〕 Thus the national Icelandic antiquarian Barði Guðmundsson translated ''Kylfing'' to mean "club-wielders".〔Guðmundsson ''passim''.〕 As Foote points out, it can also mean a smaller stick, such as a tally-stick or wooden token used by merchants,〔Foote 97.〕 and, according to Jesch, it can also mean the "highest and narrowest part" of a ship's stem.〔Jesch 150.〕 Holm discussed the term ''kylfa'' in connection with the word ''hjúkolfr'' which means "meeting" or "guild"; according to Holm, the second element ''kolfr'' could refer to a symbolic arrow traditionally used as a device to summon people for a meeting.〔 These varied derivations have led to a number of interpretations. Holm offers two meanings: "archer" and "man armed with a cudgel".〔 A number of historians have asserted that ''Kylfing'' referred to a member of a "club in the social or Anglo-American sense", a "brotherhood" or a member of a Norse félag.〔Holm 85〕〔Ravndal 75.〕〔Arbman 90.〕 In a number of minor Icelandic manuscripts on mathematics and geography, ''Kylfingaland'' is identified as Garðaríki, ''i.e.'' Kievan Rus', but the sources are unclear as to whether Kylfingaland is named for the Kylfings or vice versa, or whether, indeed, there is any connection at all.〔 The Russian cognate of ''Kylfing'' is ''Kolbjag'', following the pattern of development *''kolƀing'' ( *''kulƀing'') > *''kolƀęg'' > ''kolbjag''. The ''Kolbiagi'' were a group of foreign merchant-venturers and mercenaries mentioned in a number of Old Russian sources. They are often mentioned together with the Varangians, a term used in Eastern Europe to describe traders and pirates of the Baltic sea. In Byzantine Greek, they were named ''koulpingoi'' and they served as a unit of the Byzantine army listed alongside the Varangian Guard, which was of Scandinavian origin.〔 A very different derivation was put forward by the Russian scholar B. Briems. He hypothesised that ''Kylfingr'' was a direct Norse translation of the Votic self-designation ''Vatjalaiset'' and ''Vatja'' (or ''Vadjalaiset'' and ''Vadja'') used by the Votes, a Finnic tribe residing in Ingria, Russia.〔 A non-Norse origin was also proposed by Julius Brutzkus, who argued that both ''Varangian'' and ''Kylfing'' derived from the Turkic languages, particularly the Bulgar and Khazar languages. Brutzkus asserted that ''Varangian'' came from the Turkic root ''varmak'' ("to walk, travel") while ''Kylfing'' was a Norse pronunciation of the Slavic ''kolbiagi'', itself deriving from the Turkic phrase ''köl-beg'' ("sea-king"); under this interpretation the word ''Kylfing'' would be more or less synonymous with "Viking".〔Brutzkus 81–102.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kylfings」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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