Städ War

Städ War
A miniature depicting Geatish forces led by Gorm the Elder combating the Gutes led by Harald Halstensson.
Date 942 to 944 Location Geatland Result Geatish victory Establishment of the First Kingdom of Geatland and the enthronement of Gorm the Elder Complete subjugation of the Gutes
Belligerents
Kingdom of Lågland	Kingdom of the Gutes Supported by: Ghaillish pirates
Commanders and leaders
Gorm the Elder	Harald Halstensson †
Strength
ca. 24,000 men	ca. 18,000 men
Casualties and losses
ca. 3,200	c. 7,500

The Städ War (Geatish: Städkriget, lit. "the Anvil War") was a war fought in Geatland from AD 942 to 944. Fought primarily on the island of Gormö, it is the first non-legendary war fought on Geatish soil.

In 929, Gorm the Elder, a Geat, became king of Lågland. During this time, weaker Geatish and Gutish kingdoms and lands were being raided and pillaged by Ghaillish pirates and the Ghaillish raider kingdom on Gormö's north. Seeking to ward against the Ghaillish threat, Gorm orchestrated the unification of less powerful Geatish lords under him in 941. The Gutes, a distinct tribe, refused to unify with Gorm, sparking conflict.

Although skirmishes were present as early as 939, the war formally began in 942. The Gutes were led by Harald Halstensson, King of the Gutes, and were informally supported by Ghaillish pirates hoping to stop Geatish hegemony. The war was primarily fought on land between the hirds of each king, though there were skirmishes at sea. Gutish forces were initially victorious, but much of the army was decimated in the Battle of the Blue Cliffs, where Halstensson lost his life. The Gutish lords formally swore fealty to Gorm soon thereafter. The war had the effect of establishing the First Kingdom of Geatland and finally subjugating the Gutish tribes under the Geats.

Name

A 10th century anvil produced ca. 20 years after the Städ War. Städ means "anvil" in Geatish.

Städ is Geatish for "Anvil", and thus a common translation of the war's name is "the Anvil War." The origin of this name is unclear, as the war was only referred to as such about fifty years after its conclusion. One theory says that Städet ("the Anvil") was a commonly applied moniker to one of the war's military leaders, most likely Harald Halstensson. This is not substantiated in any primary source document. Another theory says that the war is so named because it represented the first time that weapons were forged on a mass scale, with anvils being a component in the forging processes. This does not appear to be correct, however, as bladework was popular on the Geatish Islands as early as the 2nd century AD, and there is no evidence that it increased markedly during this period.

Other theories that Städ may not axtually refer to anvils per se, but may be a reference to or a clipping of a town name. There is no evidence of this theory either.

Background

Main article: Geatland § Middle Ages

Ghaillish pirates were a serious threat to Geatish lands. They were the primary factor that pushed for Geatish unification.

By the beginning of the late 8th century A.D., Ghaillish pirates began conducting raids on the Geatish Islands. These pirates, whose origins are modern-day Caldia, were often sponsored directly by the Ghaillish monarchs, though other times they were taken upon without monarchical approval. As Ghaillish pirates bore into Geatland, they pillaged and often razed towns, killed men, and took women and children as slaves. In the place of the areas that they pillaged, Ghaillish pirates would set up raider kingdoms that acted as a base of operations for raids against the whole island. These raids and raider kingdoms were not unique to Geatland; they could be seen as far south as modern-day Estmere.

In response to the raider kingdoms, many of the Geatish chiefdoms and kingdoms began to unite. The reasoning for this was quite simple: no one Geatish territory was strong enough or well equipped to stave off the Ghaillish onslaught. If the groups acted in concert, however, they could pose a much more serious threat. The Gutes, a kindred tribe of the Ancient Geats, had already in 890. Therefore, the Geats faced enemies on both the Ghaillish and Gutish side. The growing power of the Gutes was of particularly concern, as throughout history the Gutes had typically been a subordinate tribe to the Geats. The Geatish territories remained in discord, and still none could pose a credible threat.

Gorm the Elder

Main article: Gorm the Elder

Gorm the Elder, king of Lågland, precipitated the unification of the Geatish tribes in 938.

In 929, Gorm Björnsson, who would later adopt the epithet "the Elder", became King of Lågland. Although rather small, Lågland was the most powerful of the Geatish kingdoms, and its rulers were therefore the natural pick for kings of all the Geats. Unification of the Geatish tribes was a thing of legend, having been endeavored by Alrik in the 1st century AD. Since then, the Geats had been perpetually disunified. Gorm was inspired by the aprochryphal story of Alrik's conquest, and he saw himself as a natural extension of Alrik's legacy.

Gorm first attempted to sally into Ghaillish lands, but he was unable to do stave off the superior Ghaillish forces. Disguntled, Gorm looked toward unifying the Geatish tribes. Together, Gorm reasoned, the Geatish tribes would pose a more significant threat to Ghaillish menace. Gorm negotiated the unification of Geatish tribes under his banner by 938, cementing himself then as the informal "King of the Geats."

The Gutes, however, elluded Gorm. The Gutish king, Harald Halstensson, repeatedly rejected offers to unifty under Gorm's spectre. Although the Geats were doubtless a stronger force than the Gutes, Halstensson's power was bolstered by his securing the support of the Ghaillish pirates. The Ghaillish, fearing the growing power of Gorm's forces, saw an opportunity to pit the two tribes against each other. Halstensson initially proposed to fight alongside Gorm as an equal, but Gorm rejected this offer. Gorm attempted further negotiations, but these broke down in 942. The two powers were soon at war.

Forces

Both Gorm and Harald fought not in terms of formal armies, but in hirds. A hird was the informal armed retenue of the king or ruler. Hirds typically had allegience to a ruler and not their state, and owed that allegience as a result of bloodline or tribal relations rather than a shared understanding of being a citizen or servant of the state. To keep resistence at bay, these hirds would have to paid lump sums; therefore, they were more like mercinary armies than the standing army of a state or a knightly class as was seen in mainland Euclea.

The exact number of combatants on each side varies from text to text and is sometimes woefully exagerated. What is most clear is that Gorm's forces outnumbered Harald's. Most modern estimates guage Gorm's army to have comprised twenty-four thousand men, while Harald had a retenue of eighteen thousand men. As the Geats were, by 942, more organized and centralized than the Gutes, this makes sense. It is considered by some sources that Harald may have conscripted forces from neighboring or even neutral towns, though the exact system that Harald used to go about gathering these soldiers is lost to history.