THE SUCCESSFUL SUBJUGATION of the Western Slavic people between the Elbe River and Eastern Pomerania in the later part of the twelfth century made the Danes turn their attention towards the troublesome (according to Saxo Grammaticus) people of Estonia. They had continually raided the easternmost provinces of Denmark, Skåne, and Blekinge in modern-day Sweden, while also attacking ships in open waters in their quest for booty and captives, says Saxo. A similar view is found in the chronicle of Henry of Livonia, who, at one point, indignantly records the consequences of these attacks where endless numbers of enslaved young Christian (Scandinavian) women were forced into marrying pagan men because of the slave-raiding marauders.1 As we have already seen, the Estonians were indeed frequently engaged in various forms of warfare and raiding activities as an integrated part of their societal structures.2 The islanders of Saaremaa were, in that respect, especially renowned for their superior naval power equalled only by the Danes. Quite often, the people from Saaremaa operated in close alliance with their Curonian cousins during such raids while, at the same time, eagerly protecting their own dominant position in the eastern parts of the Baltic Sea region. Consequently, they would do anything in their power to ward off the encroachment of any foreign people venturing too deep into their spheres of interest, like the Danes or the Germans for exmple, who looked more and more like a serious threat to the Estonians. The term “Curonians” actually seems to have been used as a generic term to simply refer to seaborne pirates, whether they were in fact from Curonia, from Saaremaa, from coastal Estonia, or from someplace else.

The relationship between the Danes and the people of Saaremaa and their Cou-ronian allies did have very long historical roots with intermingling periods of trading and raiding. As is already mentioned, Saxo suggested that sheer boredom enticed the Danes to attack Estonia when things became too quiet at home for them!Both par-ties—the Danes and the Estonians—possessed very powerful naval forces that were frequently brought into action during various military expeditions.