Wulfstan may have been Anglo-Saxon, or may have been from Hedeby originally, which was Danish at the time, although now in northern Germany. The account that he shared with Alfred tells of his travel from Hedeby to Truso, a Scandinavian trading port along the Amber Road. Alfred included Wulfstan's account when he translated Orosius' Histories. He names his itinerary:
Wulfstan said that he went from Haethum to Truso in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falster, and Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. Then on our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland (the land of the Wends) was all the way on our right, as far as the Vistula estuary.
Wulfstan was the first to use the word "Prussian" to describe the people he met, although they were also known as "Aesti." He describes their social structure as having rulers (cyning), nobles (ricostan), paupers (unspedigan), and slaves (peowan).
Wulfstan also reported their funeral customs:
The Aesti have the following custom: when someone dies, their body lies unburnt in their house for a month or sometimes two; kings and nobles lie even longer, proportionally to their affluence […] While the deceased is lying in the house, the family and friends drink and celebrate until he or she is burnt.
The Aesti have the custom that every deceased person, irrespective of their social position, is burnt. If they do not burn a part of the body, they have to offer great propitiatory prayers and sacrifices.
But enough about Prussia for now. What about the reference above to the Amber Road? Was it something like the Silk Road? Let's find out tomorrow.
